Veteran Bollywood director and Dadasaheb Phalke Award recipient Hrishikesh Mukherjee, hospitalised Saturday, continues to be on ventilator as his condition remains serious yet stable.

Mukherjee, 83, who has been suffering from chronic renal failure for the past many months, was admitted to the Lilavati Hospital here for pneumonia and sepsis.

According to hospital officials he is still in the intensive care unit.

"There has been no development as such - positive or negative - in Mukherjee's health," hospital spokesperson Vaishali Rajpare told.

"He is responding to treatment and his health remains serious yet stable," added Rajpare. The hospital officials cited the Padma Bhushan awardee's advanced age as a serious impediment to his recovery and no comments were available as to when Mukherjee, fondly called Hrishida, could be discharged.

The veteran director, who created masterpieces like "Anand", "Abhimaan" and "Anuradha" and boosted the careers of several stars including Rajesh Khanna ("Anand", "Bawarchi"), Amitabh Bachchan ("Abhimaan", "Mili", "Anand") and Jaya Bhaduri ("Guddi", "Mili", "Bawarchi"), is ignored by the filmdom. Hardly any Bollywood personality visited him at the hospital.

Mukherjee, who, sadly, never won a National Award despite delivering several classics, has been undergoing dialysis four times a week at the hospital for the past many years.