Who was Kader Khan? Afghan-origin Bollywood actor-writer who died at 81

Veteran actor-writer Kader Khan passed away at a Toronto hospital on Monday, December 31. He was 81. He was staying with his son daughter-in-law in Canada. 

"My dad has left us. He passed away on December 31 at 6 pm as per Canadian time due to prolonged illness. He slipped into a coma in the afternoon. He was in the hospital for 16-17 weeks," the PTI quoted his son as saying. The last rites will be performed in Canada. 

Kader Khan was not keeping well for a while and suffering from supranuclear palsy, a degenerative disease. He was hospitalised after he complained of "breathlessness"

Who was Kader Khan?
Kader Khan was born to Abdul Rahman Khan and Iqbal Begum in Kabul, Afghanistan, on October 22, 1937. He did his education in Mumbai and hold a Master's Diploma in Engineering. He used to act and write plays which became an entry point for him to foray into Bollywood.

Dilip Kumar spotted his talent and offered him to write the script of Jawani Diwani. Since then, he worked in over 250 movies as a writer and acted in over 300 movies. He appeared in a variety of roles.

Writer and Actor:
Kader Khan was first recognised for his writing skills. His dialogues had struck a chord with masses and he was one of the rare writers to have worked in both the camps of Manmohan Desai and Prakash Mehra. He was part of some of their movies like Dharam Veer, Sharaabi, Ganga Jamuna Saraswati, Coolie, Desh Premee, Lawaaris, Muqaddar Ka Sikandar, Suhaag, Parvarish and Amar Akbar Anthony. 

The one-liners penned by him for Amitabh Bachchan used to send fans into tizzy those days. His simple words had a great impact on the audience and helped the Big B to define his charismatic machismo. One such sample is - Hum jahaan khade ho jaate hain, line wahin se shuru hoti hai – from Agneepath.

Mr Natwarlal, Khoon Pasina, Satte Pe Satta, Inquilab and Hum were among many other films for which he contributed dialogues. He had also penned the screenplay for the films like Agneepath and Naseeb. Notably, he was getting offers to write for South Indian movies.

In the initial years, he was seen in small roles and gradually he was getting offers to do lengthy roles. In the mid-80s, he started experimenting with different kind of characters and shifted gears in 1989 after his comedy scenes in Himmatwala were well-received by the audience. His combo with Govinda remains one of the highlights in his acting career.

He won many honours that include Filmfare Award for Best Dialogue Writer and Best Comedian Awards.