Actor Sajid Khan, who played the younger version of Sunil Dutt’s Birju in Mehboob Khan’s Mother India and later rose to prominence with international projects such as Maya and TheSingingFilipina, has died following a battle with cancer.Khan was in his early 70s.“He had been battling cancer for a while. He passed away on Friday (December 22),” the actor’s only son Sameer told PTI.
According to Sameer, his father had settled in Kerala with his second wife. My father was adopted by Rajkumar Pitamber Rana and Sunita Pitamber and fostered by filmmaker Mehboob Khan. He was not active in films for a while and was mostly involved in philanthropy. He used to come to Kerala quite often and he liked it here, remarried and settled here,” Sameer added.The actor was laid to rest at the Kayamkulam Town Juma Masjid in Kerala’s Alappuzha district.
Following his notable role in ‘Mother India,’ which earned an Oscar nomination, Khan took on the lead role in Mehboob Khan’s “Son of India.” Achieving global stardom as a teen idol, Khan portrayed the character Rajji in ‘Maya,’ a local boy who befriends Jay North’s character. The film’s success led to a series with the same name, further contributing to Khan’s popularity.He made appearances in an episode of the American TV show ‘The Big Valley’ and served as a guest judge on the music show “It’s Happening.” Khan gained fame in the Philippines and starred in movies like ‘The Singing Filipina,’ ‘My Funny Girl,’ and ‘The Prince and I’ alongside Nora Aunor.