Veteran actor Dilip Kumar was admitted to the Lilavati hospital in Mumbai in the early hours of Saturday, for respiratory problems, doctors said. He has been reportedly diagnosed with pneumonia.
"Dilip Kumar ji had fever yesterday and he vomited a few times. Later, he was admitted to Lilavati hospital at 2 am for respiratory problems. He's not in the ICU, but doctors are keeping a close watch on him," Dr. Jalil Parkar (Lilavati Hospital) told ANI. He added that while he is stable, the next 72 hours are important. "If he does not recover well in 48 hours, we'll have to shift him," Dr Parkar said.
The 93-year-old thespian was presented the Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian award, in December last year. The Government of India had also honoured him with the Padma Bhushan award in 1991 and the Dadasaheb Phalke award in 1994 while the Pakistan government gave him its highest civilian honour - Nishan-e-Imtiaz - in 1997.
Born as Muhammad Yousuf Khan in Peshawar, Kumar made his debut as an actor in the film Jwar Bhata in 1944 produced by Bombay Talkies. In a career spanned over six decades, he starred in films of a variety of genres such as the romantic Andaz (1949), the swashbuckling Aan (1952), the dramatic Devdas (1955), the comical Azaad (1955), the historical Mughal-e-Azam (1960) and the social Ganga Jamuna (1961). The 'tragedy king of Bollywood' also did films like Kranti (1981), Shakti (1982), Karma (1986) and Saudagar (1991) and others. His last film was Qila (1998).
