Cinematographer Ashok Kumar critically ill, hospitalized

Ace southern cinematographer Ashok Kumar Agarwal is battling for life in the intensive care unit of a private hospital here for over a month with health-related issues, his son Akash Ashok Kumar said.

"My father, cinematographer-director Ashok Kumar Agarwal, has been suffering from health related issues for the past one month and is currently recuperating in ICU at SRM Hospital," Akash said in a statement.

While reasons for his illness are unknown, hospital sources claim that his condition is not stable.

Ashok Kumar has worked as a lensman in over 100 films across several languages. Some of his best works include films such as "Jeansa, "Nadigan" and "Johnny".

He received a National Award for his work in 1980 Tamil film "Nenjathai Killathe". He has also worked as a cinematographer in Hindi and English films such as "Sacha Pyaar" and "Backwaters", respectively.

He has also directed award winning films like "Andru Peitha Mazhayil" (Tamil), "Abhi Nandana" (Telugu), and "Kaamagini" (Hindi) as well and has worked with several stalwarts of the Indian film industry.