Mushtaq Khan’s funeral was a quiet affair, but the news that the 62‑year‑old actor had succumbed to cancer sent shockwaves through the silver‑screen community, especially after his own candid remarks about the pay he received for playing Ballu in Akshay Kumar’s 2013 hit Welcome.
Years before he left the stage, Khan took a hard look at the wage gap that plagues Bollywood. In a 2022 podcast, he told listeners he stayed on the same hotel in Dubai as the stars, yet his paycheck was a fraction of the amount the A‑list crew received. “I lived in the same hotel as Akshay Kumar’s crew in Dubai, and the pay I got was even less than theirs,” he said—an admission that rattled insiders.
His life was not without drama off‑screen either. In November 2024, the actor was reportedly kidnapped on the Delhi‑Meerut highway. He was lured to a remote spot near Bijnor under the pretext of an award ceremony, where he allegedly endured hours of torture before the morning Azaan prompted his escape. The incident, which netted the kidnappers a ransom demand of ₹1 crore, was later confirmed by his business partner Shivam Yadav.
Beyond the controversy, Khan’s filmography reads like a Bollywood timeline: from the romantic beats of Aashiqui (1990) to the dark comedy of Stree (2018) and the recent thrillers Stree 2 (2024) and Baby John (2024). Each role left a distinct imprint, but none matched the iconography of Ballu, the street‑wise sidekick who became a cult favorite.
He leaves behind a wife, a son and a daughter, each reportedly devastated by the loss. Industry insiders say the actor’s death will reignite conversations about fair pay and worker safety, topics that have been largely ignored amid box‑office fever.
In the end, Mushtaq Khan’s legacy is two‑fold: a catalog of memorable characters that still echo in theatres, and a sobering reminder that the glamour of Bollywood often hides a more brutal reality.