Mumbai, Dec 7 (IANS): Noted filmmaker Subhash Ghai was admitted to Lilavati Hospital in Bandra on Saturday after complaining of speech difficulty and memory loss.

“Subhash Ghai presented to the emergency department at Lilavati Hospital and Research Centre with complaints of difficulty in speaking, confusion and memory loss since one day. His past medical history was positive for Ischemic heart disease (s/p AVR 2009, CABG in 2011 and pacemaker insertion in 2011) and a recently diagnosed hypothyroidism. He was admitted to the ICU under the care of Dr. Rohit Deshpande. Initial CT angio of the brain, chest and abdomen and initial baseline blood investigations were essentially acceptable for his age and the patient was further evaluated. Ultrasound of the neck suggested features suggestive of thyroiditis with a hypoechoic margin requiring further evaluation. Transrectal Ultrasound of the prostate showed a heterogeneous hypoechoic lesion in the left lobe of the prostate gland with a serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) value > 100. The patient is being evaluated for paraneoplastic syndrome secondary to the prostate lesion for which the patient is scheduled for a PET-CT scan on Monday,” the hospital in a statement said.

Subhash Ghai (79) started his career in Bollywood as an actor. He did small roles in films like ‘Taqdeer’ and ‘Aaradhna’.

Later he did lead roles in films like ‘Umang’ and ‘Gumrah’. However, his career as an actor did not see much success following which he switched to direction.

His first film as a director was ‘Kalicharan’ with Shatrughan Sinha as lead. The film was a massive success which established him as a director.

He gave some of the major hits as director in the 1980s and 1990s. He had multiple successful collaborations with Dilip Kumar in ‘Vidhaata’, ‘Karma’ and ‘Saudaagar’.

He received a Filmfare Award for the best director for 'Saudaagar'. Subhash Ghai also launched Jackie Shroff as the actor in the film ‘Hero’ which was a blockbuster.