Mushtaq Khan passes away, his Telugu film Dada with Gopichand Malineni due in December

Veteran actor Mushtaq Khan died in Mumbai on Thursday evening after fighting lung cancer for about a year. Film lovers knew him from Hindi hits like Hum Hai Raahi Pyar Ke, Gadar: Ek Prem Katha, Welcome and Bala, as well as this year's Bhabiji Ghar Par Hain! Fun on the Run. He was reportedly being treated at Nanavati Hospital.

Telugu audiences will still get one more chance to see him on the big screen. His son, director Mohsin Khan, said his Telugu film Dada, directed by Jaat filmmaker Gopichand Malineni, is set to release in December.

Mohsin said his father had been unwell for more than a year and was responding to treatment, but things went out of control in the last ten days. He added that his father lived a good life and left smiling, even while he was in hospital. The actor worked almost until the end. His last shoot was on September 4 at Madh Island in Mumbai, for Tarzan, the debut film of Tiger, son of Salman Khan's bodyguard Shera. Rajat Bedi, Chunkey Pandey and Rajpal Yadav were part of that shoot.

He also acted in Mohsin's untitled Hindi-Marathi film with Prathamesh Parab, which the family plans to release in a few months. Mohsin said this was the first time his father played a proper role for him. Since he never got to dub for it, the film will serve as a tribute. He had also shot for The Vvaan, though Mohsin was not sure if his part was kept. His son said Mushtaq was born in 1950 and spent 51 years in the industry, working in more than 300 films, along with OTT series and over a thousand TV serial episodes.

He was reportedly laid to rest at the Yari Road Cemetery in Mumbai. Rajpal Yadav, Anees Bazmee, Sanjay Mishra, Saqib Saleem and others came to pay their respects. Ronit Roy, his co-star on the TV show Adaalat, called him "a simple, joyful man and an enthusiastic actor." He said Mushtaq often "made boring scenes electrifying" and kept the team entertained during breaks with stories from the film industry.