Veteran actress Achala Sachdev dies

Yesteryear actress Achala Sachdev, who featured in the popular song Ae Meri Zohra Jabeen from the film Waqt, has died following a prolonged illness. She was 88.

For the last seven months, the actress was bed-ridden at the Poona Hospital and Research Centre (PHRC), Pune.

"She passed away due to respiratory failure at 5.30pm yesterday. She was bed-ridden for about six months after she suffered a cerebrovascular (brain attack)," said Sachdev's physician Vinod Shah, who tended to her for more than seven months.

Sachdev is survived by son Jytoin, who is in the US and would be going to Pune for the last rites, Shah said.

Sachdev, who was staying in Pune for several years, had broken her leg after she fell down in her house about six months ago.

She was treated but four days later she suffered a brain infarction in which she lost her vision and movements of upper and lower limbs. Since then, she was being treated at the Poona Hospital and Research Centre, Shah said.

Born in Peshawar, Sachdev, who acted in around 150 films, made her film debut with Fashionable Wife (1938). Her most memorable role was as Balraj Sahni's wife in the 1965 blockbuster Waqt, where she was part of the legendary song Ae Meri Zohra Jabeen.

She was also a part of films like Prem Pujari, Mera Naam Joker, Hare Rama Hare Krishna and Andaz.

More recently, she played Kajol's grandmother in Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge and Amitabh Bachchan's mother in Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham. She was last seen in Hrithik Roshan starrer Na Tum Jaano Na Hum (2002).

The funeral will be held on Tuesday in Pune.