Bollywood actor Sitaram Panchal dies after long battle with lung cancer | NZ FIJI TIMES

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UPDATED: 7:46am – Actor Sitaram Panchal passed away on Thursday morning. He has been suffering from lung cancer and also facing financial difficulties.

Bollywood actor Sitaram Panchal, best known for his performance in Irrfan Khan’s Paan Singh Tomar, died Thursday morning after a three-year-long battle against lung cancer. Panchal worked with Akshay Kumar (Jolly LLB 2), Irrfan Khan (Paan Singh Tomar) and several other A-listers of the industry. He was 54.

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Sitaram Panchal was 54.

The actor complained of breathlessness earlier in the morning and was rushed to the hospital. He passed away there at around 7.45 am. His last rites will take place this evening.

“He died today morning. He was suffering from cancer and was unwell. He wasn’t keeping well in the last few months,” family sources said.

Panchal was suffering from kidney and lung cancer and was also facing financial crisis. Last month, he had put up social media posts seeking financial help for his treatment. Speaking to HT, his wife Uma had said he’s been bedridden for the past 10 months. “Ever since the cancer was detected in January 2014, he has taken Ayurvedic treatment. It was only recently that he started a new homeopathic medicine, following which, his condition worsened and we discontinued the medicines,” she said.

Sitaram celebrated his 26th wedding anniversary on Wednesday. His son, Rishabh, posted a picture of the actor and wished his parents.

Even after Haryana government offered Rs 5 lakh for the actor’s treatment, he continued his Ayurvedic medicine and did not switch to allopathic treatment.

The Cine & TV Artistes Association (CINTAA) also posted about Sitaram’s condition and sought help from well wishers. A fund raiser had also been created for the cause and it reportedly collected Rs 1,06,575. The description for the fund0-raiser said, “Actors like Sitaram Panchal are at the bottom of the Bollywood pyramid. They don’t get paid as well as the top celebrities nor do they have those many connections. However these actors work just as hard to make our Bollywood movies a delight to watch. When these actors fall in trouble, they don’t have a large safety net to rely on.”

Sitaram has also worked in Bandit Queen, Slumdog Millionnaire, Peepli Live and The Legend of Bhagat Singh.

-HT

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