KOCHI: Renowned theatre, movie and TV serial actor VP Khalid, popularly known for his portrayal of the character Sumersh in the TV serial Marimayam, passed away following a cardiac arrest in Vaikom on Friday morning. According to sources Khalid collapsed at the shooting location of a Tovino Thomas starrer movie directed by Jude Antony at Vaikom.
Khalid, a native of Chullikkal near Fort Kochi, was found unconscious in the washroom in the morning. Though he was rushed to a hospital, he was declared brought dead.
The 71-year-old actor started his career as a drama artist at the age of 16. He became popular with his role as Sumesh in the political satire show 'Marimayam'. He made his debut in the movie titled "Periyar", which was directed by PJ Antony in 1973.
Khalid was associated with popular drama troupes like Cochin Sanathana and Alleppey Theatres and had acted in drama's like Ezhunnallathu, Dracula and Ancham Thirumurivu. He has also acted in movies like Enipopadikal and Ponnapuram Kotta are the other movies he acted in. His son Khalid Rahman is a Malayalam movie director. The other two sons are cinematographers Shaiju Khalid and Jimshi Khalid.
The body has been shifted to Kottayam Government Medical College Hospital for postmortem examination.