Legendary bollywood actor Rishi Kapoor passes away at 67

New Delhi: Veteran Bollywood actor Rishi Kapoor breathed his last at a Mumbai hospital on Thursday morning after a long battle with cancer. He was 67.

Amitabh Bachchan, a very dear friend of Kapoor, wrote on Twitter that the actor was no more, leaving him “destroyed”.

Kapoor made his debut as child artist in the 1970 megahit “Mera Naam Joker”. The 67-year-old actor played the lead for the first time in Bobby opposite Dimple Kapadia in 1973.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, too, took to Twitter and said it had been a terrible week for the Indian film industry.

“This is a terrible week for Indian cinema, with the passing of another legend, actor Rishi Kapoor.

“A wonderful actor, with a huge fan following across generations, he will be greatly missed. My condolences to his family, friends & fans all over the world, at this time of grief,” he wrote.

On Wednesday morning, Kapoor was admitted to the H N Reliance hospital following the breathing problem.

“…He is suffering from cancer and he has some breathing problem, so he has been admitted to the hospital. He is stable now,” Randhir had told PTI.

Kapoor returned to India last September after undergoing treatment for cancer in the US for almost a year.

In February, Kapoor was hospitalised twice due to his health issues.

He was first admitted to a hospital in Delhi where he was attending a family function. At the time, Kapoor had said that he was suffering from an “infection”.

After his return to Mumbai, he was again admitted to a hospital with viral fever. He was discharged soon after.

Kapoor, who has been quite active on social media, hadn’t posted anything on his Twitter account since April 2.

The had actor recently announced his next project, a remake of Hollywood film “The Intern”, also featuring Deepika Padukone.

Tragically, Kapoor passed away just a day after another legendary Bollywood actor Irrfan Khan died following a long fight with cancer.

PTI