Popular veteran film director Iqbal Kashmiri, 78, passed away on Sunday after a protracted illness.

He had been hospitalised for the last 10 days or so due to a lungs problem which got complicated.

According to details, Iqbal Kashmiri, suffering from chronic kidney disease, was hospitalised in a critical condition one week earlier. After remaining in intensive treatment unit for about one week the noted film director breathed his last.

Iqbal Kashmiri was born in Lahore in 1942. His father Karim Bakhsh used to run a small hotel near Delhi Darwaza. He was fond of movies since childhood and it is said he would do makeup on children his age and ‘shootings’ in the area for fun. His dream came true later in life when he became a director.

In 1954, he performed as an extra in Amin Malik’s film Deewar. He later started living with actor Illyas Kashmiri to whom he was introduced by Illyas’ younger brother who used to live in Iqbal Kashmiri’s area. He used to iron Illyas Kashmiri’s clothes and felt honoured to become his assistant of sorts.

Iqbal Kashmiri’s first film as a director was “Taxi Driver” which was released in 1970. He also directed 84 films including ‘Babul’, ‘Ziddi’, ‘Banarasi Thug’, ‘Shareef Badmaash’, ‘Hum Ek Hain’ and ‘Ghar Kab Aao Ge’.

Iqbal Kashmiri directed many other movies - both Punjabi and Urdu. His film Hum Aik Hain won eight Nigar awards in 1986 and in 1987 his film Choron Ki Baraat won seven Nigar awards.

Kashmiri is survived by two sons and four daughters.