Longtime Bollywood actor and producer Shashi Kapoor died Monday at the age of 79.
Kapoor, who starred in over 150 films, passed away in a Mumbai hospital, after suffering from kidney disease for several years, his family said.
His funeral will be held Tuesday, his nephew, actor Randhir Kapoor told the Press Trust of India.
Kapoor is survived by his three children. His wife, British actress Jennifer Kendal, died in 1984.
A three-time winner of at India’s National Film Awards, Kapoor was perhaps best known for his role opposite Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan in “Deewar” (The Wall, 1975) in which he said what is now one of Hindi cinema’s most famous lines in a tense confrontation with Bachchan – “Mere paas Maa hai” (Mother is on my side).
Kapoor was also one of the first Indian actors to perform abroad, starring in Merchant Ivory Films such as “The Householder” (1963) and “Shakespeare Wallah” (1965).
Kapoor, a member of what is often called Bollywood’s First Family, was the youngest son of Prithviraj Kapoor and brothers of Raj and Shammi Kapoor – who were also leading men in India’s film industry.
Along with his late wife, Shashi Kapoor began Mumbai’s iconic Prithvi Theatre, named after his father, which supports experimental and avant-garde theater. His daughter Sanjana now runs it.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences to the family on Twitter Monday, writing that Kapoor’s “brilliant acting will be remembered for generations to come”.