According to BBC Persian, Dalip Kumar, also known as Mohammad Yusuf Khan, died today in Mumbai, India. He Passed away at the age of 98.

Dilip Kumar has acted in more than 65 films in five decades of his artistic career and is considered a “legendary” actor. He was reportedly hospitalized on June 30 when he complained of shortness of breath. But he had been ill for several months before. Kumar’s only survivor is Sayre Banu, his wife, who is also a famous Bollywood actress. They had no children.

Following the news of Dalip Kumar’s death, many politicians, actors, and celebrities have paid tribute to him on social media with messages. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called him a “legendary figure in cinema” and his death a “loss to the world of culture.” Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan and former Afghan President Hamid Karzai also paid tribute to him with messages of condolence.

Dalip Kumar has also been a well-known figure in Afghanistan and Iran. Mr. Karzai wrote that he replied in Pashto in 2019 when he congratulated Mr. Kumar on his birthday. Dalip Kumar, originally named Mohammad Yusuf Khan, was born in 1922 in Peshawar (now Pakistan and then British India), a city bordering Afghanistan, and moved to Mumbai as a teenager to pursue a career in cinema. When he started his film career, like some of his other contemporary Muslim actors, he chose the Indian name of Dalip Kumar.

In 1944, he starred for the first time in the Bollywood film “Jwar Bata.” But it was the 1949 film “Andaz” that made him famous.