'Mother India' child actor Sajid Khan, who played the younger Sunil Dutt, passes away following 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”.