Mumbai, Dec 12 (IANS): Veteran actor Dilip Kumar has thanked all his fans and followers for sending him "lovely messages" on his 94th birthday.

"Thank you for all the beautiful and lovely messages," Dilip tweeted on Sunday night.

The thespian, who turned 94 on Sunday, was admitted to Lilavati Hospital and Research Centre here on Wednesday after complained of swelling in one of his legs.

The actor says all the heartfelt messages on Twitter brought tears to his eyes.

"Your love and affection has been so enduring and so touching, your heartfelt messages on this medium brought tears to my eyes," he added.

The actor, who made his acting debut in "Jwar Bhata" in 1944, was born as Muhammad Yusuf Khan. He later adopted the screen name Dilip Kumar. He was last seen on the big screen in the film "Qila" in 1998. He was honoured with Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1994 and Padma Vibhushan in 2015.

He has worked in hit films like "Devdas", "Mughal-e-Azam", "Ganga Jamuna", "Kranti" and "Saudagar".

Dilip also shared a photograph of himself along with his wife and veteran actress Saira Banu cutting a chocolate cake in the hospital.

"Saira, helps me cut a cake," he captioned the image.