Producer and director Harish Shah dies of cancer at 76

Yesteryear producer and director Harish Shah lost his battle with cancer today. He was 76.

Shah began as a producer in the late 1960s with the Ashok Kumar- and Joy Mukherjee-starrer Dil Aur Mohabbat (1968).

His next project became his best known, the Rajesh Khanna- and Tanuja-starrer Mere Jeevan Saathi (1972).

Kaala Sona (1975), starring Feroz Khan and Parveen Babi, followed, after which Shah made his directorial debut with Dhan Daulat (1980), starring Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh.

Even after he took over the directorial reins, Shah continued to bankroll films, with the Ramsay Brothers' Hotel (1981) being his next venture, followed by Ram Tere Kitne Naam (1985) with Rekha and Sanjeev Kumar.

Shah directed two other films in his career, Zalzala (1988), starring Dharmendra and Shatrughan Sinha, and Ab Insaf Hoga (1995), starring Rekha and Mithun Chakraborty. Guddu Dhanoa’s Jaal: The Trap (2003), starring Sunny Deol, was his last film as a producer.

Throughout his 25-year career, Shah worked with big stars and well-known people from the film industry. He also worked often with his brother Vinod Shah, who broke the news of his passing.

Harish Shah was cremated at the Pawan Hans crematorium in Santa Cruz, Mumbai.