Ruhul Amin Babul, a long-time film producer and director in the Dhallywood industry and the husband of veteran actress Nuton, has died after a protracted battle with cancer, colleagues said. He passed away on Saturday while receiving treatment at a hospital in Dhaka, the Directors' Association official Kabirul Islam Rana confirmed.

Rana said Babul had been ill for some time, briefly recovered and returned home, but his condition suddenly worsened and he was readmitted to hospital, where he later died. A funeral prayer will be held on Sunday after the noon congregational prayer in Block D of Bashundhara; Babul will be buried at Azimpur cemetery, Rana said.

Babul was also a founding member of the stunt and fighting troupe "Jambs", established in 1974 under the leadership of actor Jashim. He moved into film production in the late 1970s and went on to produce roughly thirty films over several decades. His credits include commercial titles such as "Dost Dushman," "Barud," "Chand Surjo," and "Kabin." His final production, "Ami Shei Meye," was released in 1998.

Born into the cinema community and active behind the scenes as both producer and director, Babul helped shape action filmmaking in Bangladesh and supported generations of performers and technicians. Beyond his production work, he retained ties to the era of fight choreography and on-set stunt coordination that defined much of Dhallywood's popular cinema.

Babul married actress Nuton in 1978; the couple have two daughters. Colleagues in film circles paid tribute to his contributions to commercial cinema and to the close-knit networks of practitioners who sustained the industry through changing times.

Arrangement and production details for the funeral were being finalised at the time of reporting. The film community and audiences who grew up on the popular action films of the 1980s and 1990s will recall Babul as a steady presence behind some of Dhallywood's most durable genre pictures.