KARACHI: Famous comedian Sikandar Sanam, who was recently diagnosed with liver cancer, passed away on Monday.

The Express Tribune learnt about Sanam’s death from a close associate of his. The news was further confirmed by someone close to Furqan Haider – current owner of City Auditorium.

“He [Sanam] passed away this afternoon. The body will arrive in Karachi from Nawabshah within four hours,” Haider’s close associate said.

The actor was admitted to Aga Khan University Hospital in September. He was later discharged from the facility.

Haider, the man who claims to have introduced Sanam to the world of theatre had earlier informed The Express Tribune that ARY Digital was trying to arrange for him to be treated at one of the best hospitals in Mumbai, which is known for curing a large number of patients suffering from cancer.

Sanam was known for his parodies of famous Bollywood movies.

Life as an artist 

Belonging to a family of artists, Sanam – whose real name was Muhammad Sikander – found inspiration in his father, Late Syed Abdul Sattar Shoqeen Jetpuri who was a well known Gujrati poet. He always wanted to become a singer and was known for his voice during his school days. However, he soon realised his real strength was comedy as he formally joined the Karachi theatre.

Sanam started off his career with theatre giants like Moin Akhtar and later on with Umer Sharif. After working as a junior artist in a number of theatre plays, he slowly started getting noticed for his stage performances. This was when he changed his name to “Sikander Sanam” to reflect the love bestowed on him by his admirers.

Be it the character of a 60-year-old widow, an eager bachelor, a college-going boy or a thug from Laloo Kheth (an area in Karachi), Sanam really knew how to tickle the funny bone and rightly changed his name.