Irrfan Khan loses battle with cancer

Mumbai : Irrfan Khan, as much at home in the Hollywood superhero film "The Amazing Spiderman" as in the introspective "The Lunchbox", lost his battle with a rare form of cancer and died in a Mumbai hospital on Wednesday.

He was 54. Irrfan, one of India's finest and most versatile actors, is survived by his wife Sutapa and his sons Babil and Ayaan.

He was buried at the Versova graveyard. It is the second tragedy for the family in less than a week. The "Maqbool" actor lost his mother, 95-year-old Saeeda Begum, in Jaipur just four days ago and could not attend the funeral because of the nationwide lockdown.

Irrfan, that rare artiste who straddled multiple worlds, making his mark in both international and Indian cinema in roles intense and light-hearted, was admitted to the intensive care unit of the Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital with a colon infection.

He was surrounded by his loved ones in his last moments. News of the death of the actor, who was diagnosed with neuroendocrine tumour in 2018, a rare form of cancer that attacks various parts of the body, was confirmed by his family in a statement.

"I trust, I have surrendered," the family recalled him as saying when he was diagnosed with the disease. There was an outpouring of grief from various quarters, including politicians and civil servants as well as his colleagues and his many fans.