Kader Khan's Funeral Today, Actor to be Buried in Canada

Mumbai: Veteran actor-writer Kader Khan, who died on December 31, will be buried today at a cemetery in Canada, his son Sarfaraz said. 

Khan died in a Canadian hospital after prolonged illness. He was 81. “The last rites will be performed here in Canada as we have our entire family here. He (Kader Khan) is going to be buried at approximately 2:30 pm as per Canadian time at Meadowvale cemetery,” Sarfaraz told PTI.

Khan was reportedly suffering from progressive supranuclear palsy, a degenerative disease that causes loss of balance, difficulty in walking and dementia. In the last few days, he was just able to maintain eye contact. He had stopped talking completely, was put on a BiPAP ventilator and showed symptoms of pneumonia. 

Sarfaraz had earlier told a media portal that Khan had recently undergone a knee surgery but despite it being successful, he couldn’t walk owing to his ill health.

Born in Kabul, Khan’s family migrated to Mumbai when he was a year old. He went on to write dialogues for over 250 films, including some of the biggest blockbusters of the 70s and 80s such as Dharam Veer, Ganga Jamuna Saraswati, Coolie, Desh Premee, Suhaag, Parvarish, Amar Akbar Anthony, Sharaabi, Lawaaris and Muqaddar Ka Sikandar. 

He was equally prolific as an actor. After making his screen debut in 1973 with Rajesh Khanna’s Daag, he featured in a variety of character roles in over 300 films. Several personalities, including President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Amitabh Bachchan, David Dhawan, Govinda, Shakti Kapoor and Shatrughan Sinha have condoled Khan’s death.