Veteran Character Actor Dead

Veteran Malayalam character actor Jagannatha Varma passed away on Tuesday morning at a private hospital.

He was suffering from age-related illness and was in the hospital for the past few days. The 77-year-old had acted in some 200 films and two dozen TV serials in a career spanning almost four decades. Besides being an accomplished actor, he was also a Kathakali artiste and also doubled up as a percussionist.

Varma began his official career in the Kerala Police and retired in the rank of superindent of police. After that he was very active in the film industry. He was often seen in character roles. Some of the popular films he acted included blockbusters like 'New Delhi', "Ee Sabdam Innathe Sabdam", "Yodha", "Lelam" to name a few. Survived by his wife and son Manu , a popular TV actor Aand a daughter, who is married to popular film director Viji Thampi.