Sajid Khan obit

Actor Sajid Khan, known for 'Mother India' and 'Maya', passes away

 

He was not on the list.

Actor Sajid Khan, who played the younger version of Sunil Dutts Birju in Mehboob Khans Mother India and later rose to prominence with international projects such as Maya and The Singing Filipina, has died following a battle with cancer.

Actor Sajid Khan, who played the younger version of Sunil Dutt's Birju in Mehboob Khan's ''Mother India'' and later rose to prominence with international projects such as ''Maya'' and ''The Singing Filipina'', has died following a battle with cancer. Khan was in his early 70s.

''He had been battling cancer for a while. He passed away on Friday (December 22),'' the actor's only son Sameer told PTI.

According to Sameer, his father had settled in Kerala with his second wife.

''My father was adopted by Rajkumar Pitamber Rana and Sunita Pitamber and fostered by filmmaker Mehboob Khan. He was not active in films for a while and was mostly involved in philanthropy. He used to come to Kerala quite often and he liked it here, remarried and settled here,'' Sameer added.

The actor was laid to rest at the Kayamkulam Town Juma Masjid in Kerala's Alappuzha district.

After ''Mother India'', which was nominated for the Oscars, Khan played the title role in Mehboob Khan's ''Son of India''. Khan found global stardom as a teen idol with his role in ''Maya'' where he played the role of a local boy Rajji, who befriends the character played by Jay North. The movie's popularity led to a series of the same name and added to Khan's popularity.

He also guest starred in an episode of American TV show ''The Big Valley'' and appeared as a guest judge in music show ''It's Happening''.

The actor became a famous name in the Philippines and worked in movies such as ''The Singing Filipina'', ''My Funny Girl'' and ''The Prince and I'' with actor Nora Aunor.

Khan also played the role of a dacoit chief in the Merchant-Ivory production ''Heat and Dust''.

After his debut in Mother India in 1957, he played the title role in his adopted father's next and last film Son of India in 1962. According to Rauf Ahmed, though the film was not a success at the box-office, Sajid's performance was praised by the critics.[5] After his father's death in 1964, Sajid moved to the United States where he did his further education.

Khan went on to achieve fame in the United States with a co-starring role alongside Jay North in the 1966 film Maya. The film's success led to a television series of the same name airing on NBC from September 1967 to February 1968 and lasting 18 episodes. The show led to Sajid becoming a "teen idol" for a short time, appearing on the cover of popular magazines. He also had a short-lived singing career, releasing a self titled album.

In 1968, he guest-starred in an episode of the television series The Big Valley, and appeared in the music variety show It's Happening as a guest judge.

In the late 1960s, the actress Rekha was struggling to gain a foothold in films. She was a south Indian who spoke Hindi badly but whose English was good. At this time, several English language films and television serials with an Indian theme were being made, like Jungle Book and Maya. So, she thought of looking for roles as an Indian woman in foreign language films. She approached Khan, who was himself acting in Maya, and he tried to help her get some a bit role in the film, but failed. Shortly afterwards, Rekha made her Hindi language debut with Sawan Bhadon (1970), which was a hit, and her career in Hindi films was assured.

Khan also found success in the Philippines in the early 1970s, starring as the male lead in a number of romantic comedy films opposite leading Philippine actresses Nora Aunor and Vilma Santos. He tried to get back into Hindi films, but none of his Hindi films from 1972 to 1983 worked financially. His career's peak period was in 1966–1974 and he was more successful in English films. His last film appearance was in the Merchant Ivory film Heat and Dust in 1983, where he played the role of "dacoit chief," seen fleetingly in only one scene with no spoken dialogue whatsoever.