Mumbai, February 18 Veteran screenwriter Salim Khan suffered a brain hemorrhage, which has been successfully treated, and is currently on ventilator support as a precautionary measure, doctors treating him said on Wednesday, a day after he was admitted to Lilavati Hospital here.
The 90-year-old, one half of the celebrated Salim-Javed duo, which scripted films such as "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don" with Javed Akhtar, is in the ICU and recovery may take some time given his age.
"His blood pressure was high, and we treated him accordingly. We had to put him on a ventilator because we wanted to conduct certain investigations. Now the ventilator is in place as a precautionary measure to ensure his condition does not worsen. So, he is not in a critical condition," Dr Jalil Parkar told reporters.
"We conducted the necessary investigations, and today we performed a minor procedure on him. I will not go into the details. The procedure performed is called DSA (digital subtraction angiography). The procedure has been completed, he is stable and has been returned to the ICU. We hope to remove him from the ventilator by tomorrow. Overall, he is doing quite well," he added.
When asked whether he suffered a brain hemorrhage, the doctor said, "He did experience a slight hemorrhage, which we have successfully treated. No surgery is required."
As concerns grew over Khan's health, his children, including superstar Salman Khan and Arbaaz Khan, daughter Alvira, and sons-in-law Atul Agnihotri and Aayush Sharma, along with other well-wishers, were seen outside the hospital. His long-time partner Akhtar was also seen leaving the hospital.
Khan, a household name in the 70s and 80s, turned 90 on November 24 last year. This was the day Dharmendra, the star of many of his films, including "Sholay", "Seeta aur Geeta" and "Yaadon Ki Baraat", passed away.
Coming from an affluent family in Indore, Khan arrived in Mumbai in his 20s with dreams of stardom. He was good-looking and confident that he would make a mark in the industry as an actor. But that did not happen. And then, after struggling for almost a decade and getting confined to small roles in films, he changed lanes.
He worked as an assistant to Abrar Alvi and soon met Akhtar to form one of Hindi cinema's most formidable writing partnerships. They worked together on two dozen movies, most of which achieved blockbuster status.
Besides "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don", Khan and Akhtar also penned "Trishul", "Zanjeer", "Seeta Aur Geeta", "Haathi Mere Saathi", "Yaadon Ki Baarat" and "Mr India".
