With prayers on their lips, friends and family members bid a tearful adieu to distinguished character actor A K Hangal at his funeral in Mumbai on Sunday.

His son Vijay Hangal performed last rites at the Pawan Hans crematorium in Vile Parle, Mumbai in the afternoon.

Character artists including Rakesh Bedi, Raza Murad, Avatar Gill, singer-actress Ila Arun and a few others were present at the crematorium.

Veteran character actor A.K. Hangal passed away on Sunday early morning due to brief illness aggravated by a fracture in his thigh bone at Asha Parekh Hospital in suburban Mumbai. He was 95 years old.

Hangal is survived by his 74-year-old son Vijay and his wife Manorama.

The film fraternity and political leaders hailed the departed actor A K Hangal as the marathon man of Hindi Cinema.

Actress Shabana Azmi wrote on micro-blogging site twitter that A K Hangal no more. An era comes to an end. Theatre and films were enriched by him.

Filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, Veteran actor Anupam Kher tweeted also expressed grief for the demise of A K Hangal.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni and several chief ministers paid rich tributes to the grand old man of Hindi cinema, Hangal's death has left a void which will be difficult to fill.

BJP leader L K Advani said that Indian cinema has lost a towering personality, who was also a highly endearing human being. BJP President Nitin Gadkari described Hangal as a seasoned actor of the Indian film industry.