Noted Malayalam Filmmaker Siddique Dies At 63

Noted Malayalam director and screenwriter Siddique died at a private hospital in Kochi, his family said on Tuesday.

Siddique, 63, who was undergoing treatment at Amrita hospital in Kochi for over a month for various ailments, suffered a heart attack on Monday, hospital sources said on Tuesday.

His end came at 9.13 PM today, the sources said.

The filmmaker, who had helmed numerous superhit Malayalam movies, was in a critical condition and was on ECMO (Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation), which provides respiratory support when a person's lungs and heart are not performing adequately.

Siddique delivered several hit movies along with his friend Lal -- who is also an actor who played leading roles in various hit films himself such as 'Thenkasipattanam', 'Thommanum Makkalum', and 'Salt and Pepper' among others -- and the filmmaker duo was popularly known as 'Siddique-Lal'.

'Siddique-Lal' movies such as 'Ramji Rao Speaking', 'In Harihar Nagar', 'Godfather', 'Vietnam Colony' and 'Kabooliwala' were massive hits.

Siddique is also the director of blockbuster movies including 'Hitler', 'Friends', 'Chronic Bachelor', and 'Bodyguard', among others.

He directed the remake of his movie 'Bodyguard' starring Salman Khan in Hindi, which also became a superhit. In Tamil, it was titled 'Kavalan' starring Vijay and did well at the box office.

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