Veteran Bollywood actor-writer Kader Khan died at a hospital in Toronto, Canada, on Monday, PTI reported, quoting his family. He was 81 and was suffering from a prolonged illness.

Khan died at 6 pm local time hours after he had slipped into a coma. He had been in hospital for about four months. His last rites will be conducted in Canada, his son Sarfaraz said.

Khan, who was born in Kabul, acted in over 300 films and wrote scripts for over 250 films, and was at his peak in the 1980s and 1990s. His first film as an actor was Daag in 1973. He often collaborated with screenwriters Manmohan Desai and Prakash Mehra. Films on which he worked with them included Dharam Veer, Ganga Jamuna Saraswati, Coolie, Desh Premee, Amar Akbar Anthony, Sharaabi, and Muqaddar Ka Sikandar.

Khan was reportedly suffering from Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, a degenerative disease that causes loss of balance, difficulty in walking and dementia.