Veteran Malayalam actor K N Jagannatha Varma died at a private hospital in Thiruvanathapuram. He was 78 and was reportedly suffering from prolonged pneumonia.

According to news reports, the actor was hospitalized on Sunday morning and had a cardiac arrest on Tuesday at 8.30 am.

Varma who was also a Kathakali artist has acted in around 200 movies and several television serials too. He made his acting debut with ‘Mattoly’ in 1978. Varma who had essayed numerous roles of a police officer or a top bureaucrat in his movies had retired as a Superintendent of Police in real life. He joined the state police in 1963.

The ‘Lelam’ fame actor is known for hit films like ‘New Delhi’, ‘Pathram’, 'Praja', 'Aaraam Thampuraan', 'New Delhi', 'Nakshathrangaleh Sakshi', 'Anthapuram' and 'Sreekrishnaparanthu'.

He imbibed his Kathakali skills from Kalamandalam Raman Namboothiri and was also known to be a skilled exponent of the chenda (drum).

Varma was born at Cherthala in Alappuzha. He is survived by his wife Santa Varma, son Manu Varma (also an actor). His daughter Priya is married to well-known Malayalam film director Viji Thampi.