Filmmaker Sawan Kumar Tak in ICU, nephew says condition ‘serious’

Filmmaker Sawan Kumar Tak has been admitted in Mumbai’s Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital. The 86-year-old director-producer has a hory of lung-related ailments. His nephew Navin, who is a Punjabi film producer, told that the senior filmmaker is critical.
He said, “He has several health ailments, and his lungs are weak, he is critical. We got him admitted to Kokilaben Ambani hospital yesterday and he is in the ICU. His lungs are weak too because of old-age. Doctors are treating him, but he is responding very little and is not recovering properly, so we are all praying for him.”
On being asked if Tak suffered a heart attack, Navin said, “No, nothing like that. He’s been suffering from lung issues for some years now. He was feeling weak last few days and had a fever, we thought it could be pneumonia, but when we came here we got to know that his lungs are totally damaged.” Sawan stays in Mumbai’s Juhu area and doesn’t have a family.
Sawan Kumar Tak had begun his showbiz career in 1967 with the movie Naunihal. The Sanjeev Kumar-starrer was quite well-received and had even been honoured with a Presidential mention at the National Awards that year. In an earlier interview, Sawan Kumar had revealed that he borrowed Rs 25,000 from his ser to bankroll the film.

“I came to Mumbai from Jaipur in 1965 to become an actor. After trying my luck at two-three studios when I didn’t get a break I decided to start from the top. I requested my ser to lend Rs 25,000 to produce a film. I had an idea about an orphan whose principal tells him that he has a relative in the form of Pandit Nehru. My sers refused but my brother-in-law agreed. So I produced Naunihal,” the director had said at the time.
Sawan Kumar Tak had made his directorial debut with the 1972 release Gomti Ke Kinare which starred Meena Kumari and Mumtaz in pivotal roles. Other movies which he directed and produced over the years include Hawas, Ab Kya Hoga, Laila, Souten, Sanam Bewafa and Dil Pardesi Ho Gaya.
Apart from filmmaking, Sawan is also recognised as a lyric. Besides penning some songs of Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai, Sawan also wrote all the songs of Amitabh Bachchan-Kareena Kapoor’s 2004 release Dev.