Veteran actor Shashi Kapoor died today at the age of 79.

Kapoor was unwell for quite some time. The actor was admitted to the Kokilaben Hospital in Mumbai. He was administered several rounds of dialysis while at the hospital.

Shashi Kapoor is survived by two sons, Kunal and Karan, and a daughter, Sanjana, who takes care of the Prithviraj Theatre.

The third and youngest son of Prithviraj Kapoor, Shashi Kapoor made his Bollywood debut in 1961, as the lead actor, in the film Dharamputra. He began his career as a child artiste in the 1940s. He took on the name 'Shashiraj' for his roles in commercial films back in the 40s, instead of using his own name because there was another Shashi Kapoor, a child artiste, who was best known for his roles in mythological films.

Shashi began work as an assistant director on Sunil Dutt's debut film, Post Box 999, before going on to make his proper film debut as a lead actor in 1961, with the film Dharamputra.

Kapoor acted in more than a hundred films, of which he played the solo lead in 61.