IANS

• The Bollywood actor is out of danger and under observation in a hospital in Mumbai

Mumbai, Feb 19: actor Saif Ali Khan, who was rushed to a city hospital here Sunday evening after complaining of chest pain, is better and recovering from severe exertion, hospital sources said on Monday.

"Saif Ali is out of danger, but will be kept under observation for the next two days, said Lilavati Hospital dean N. Trivedi.

Saif, 36, was rushed to Lilavati Hospital Sunday evening after suffering a "suspected" mild heart attack. He was admitted to the intensive care unit and underwent an ECG, which had shown that he had irregular heartbeat.

"A team led by cardiologist Vivek Mehan immediately performed an angiography but found him to be stable," Trivedi said. Saif had early Sunday morning returned from a tour of South Africa and had rehearsed for a performance at a function earlier in the day. He complained of chest pain at about 5 p.m. when he was heading for the evening's Stardust Awards at the Bandra-Kurla Complex. Saif was to have received the award for best actor in a negative role for Omkara, which brought him much critical acclaim when it was released last year.

Saif's sister actor Soha said, "Saif had been working day and night and was over-exerted."

"He returned from South Africa at 1.30 a.m. Sunday and rushed to the MMRDA grounds at the Bandra-Kurla Complex to practice for last night's Stardust Awards," Soha told today. But soon news of Saif's heart attack spread and several Bollywood biggies like Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, who were present at the awards function, rushed to the hospital to see him. Others like Fardeen Khan, Preity Zinta, Kunal Kohli and Jackie Shroff followed.

Missing in action

Saif, who won the award for the best actor in a villainous role for his performance in the film Omkara, was not present to receive it. Totally unaware of Khan's ailment, director of Omkara, Vishal Bharadwaj had joked while receiving the award.

He said, "Saif, I know you are always late for shooting but I didn't know you would be late for an award function as well. Where are you?"