Sunil Dutt passes away...

Mumbai, May 25 (IANS) Legendary actor Sunil Dutt, who took to politics and became the country's sports minister last year, died of a heart attack at his Bandra residence here Wednesday, family members said.

He would have been 76 on June 6.

Dutt, who represented the Mumbai North-West constituency in the Lok Sabha, was an avid champion of secular values. He had been ailing for a few days. He was a widower. His wife Nargis Dutt, another famous actor of her time, died of cancer in a New York hospital in 1981.

He is survived by his actor son Sanjay Dutt and two daughters.

Born on June 6, 1929, in a village called Khurd in present-day Pakistan, Dutt's hit movies included "Padosan", "Jis Desh Me Ganga Behti Hai", "Mother India" and last screen appearance being "Munnabhai M.B.B.S."