Bollywood actor Faraaz Khan passes away at 46

Bollywood actor Faraaz Khan has died. The actor was battling a brain infection for sometime and his colleagues from the film industry Pooja Bhatt and Salman Khan had reached out to provide him financial assistance a few days back. Faraaz was 46.

The news of his death was confirmed by actress-filmmaker Pooja Bhatt on social media.

"With a heavy heart I break the news that #FaraazKhan has left us for what I believe is a better place. Gratitude to all for your help & good wishes when he needed it most. Please keep his family in your thoughts & prayers.The void he has left behind will be impossible to fill," Pooja tweeted.

Earlier on October 22, Pooja had shared that Faraaz was showing signs of improvement.

"Gratitude to all you truly special, generous people who spread the word & contributed towards the medical treatment of #FaraazKhan Am told he is showing improvement & that the family managed to raise Rs 14,45,747 of Rs 25,00,000 as of today. Let`s keep this going," she tweeted while thanking contributors.

In October it was revealed that Faraaz, who had appeared in films like 'Fareb', 'Mehndi' among others, had suffered three consecutive seizures owing to a herpes infection in his brain. The infection had spread to his chest and he had evenm developed pneumonia. He was battling for his life in a hospital in Bengaluru.

The family had started a fundraiser for the actor.

"Faraaz was admitted to the emergency ward of Vikram hospital where we found out that he suffered three consecutive seizures due to a herpes infection in his brain that had spread from his chest. Besides, while he suffered from these seizures, he swallowed the mucus and saliva of his cough which entered his lungs and caused pneumonia," the family had said in the statement then.

"The doctors are trying their best to get him out of danger but that will require another 7-10 days of critical care...It has been years since Faraaz has worked in films. And 25 lakhs is a huge amount to be arranged. We have a simple life and earn our living with our job and enjoy spending the weekends with our family," the family had added.

Soon after the news of his illness came out, Bollywood superstar Salman Khan had extended support. The news was confirmed by actress Kashmera Shah on Instagram. In her post, Kashmera had also claimed that Salman had paid Faraaz`s hospital bills.

Pooja Bhatt too had lent her support to the actor and had urged others to help in whataver way they could.