THRISSUR: Music composer John P Varkey collapsed and died at his residence at Mullakkara on Monday. His funeral will be held at the Infant Jesus church at Mullakkara, Thrissur, on Wednesday at 11.30 am.
Varkey, who completed his training in guitar from Trinity College of Music in London, was 52.
In his career spanning many decades, Varkey composed over 50 songs in Malayalam movies.
He was the pioneer when it came to introducing a rock bank in Kerala. His band Jigsaw Puzzle provided the base for the creation of Avial, who became popular across the country.
Neithukkaran, Kammattipadam, Eeda, Olipporu and Unnam are some of the notable films for which Varkey composed music.
He also composed music for the Hindi film Frozen that released in 2007 and starred Danny Denzongpa.
Eeda, based on Romeo and Juliet and starring Shane Nigam and Nimisha Sajayan, a film that released in 2018, was the last movie he composed music for.
He is survived by his wife Baby John, and sons Job and Joseph John.