Jagathy Sreekumar is alive; viral photo claiming the death of comedian is fake

Thiruvananthapuram: The fans of Jagathy Sreeekumar can now take a sigh of relief as the reports claiming the death of the Malayalam actor are noting more than a hoax.

Earlier today, a photo had started doing the rounds on Internet, claiming "the actor passed away following heart attack".

It also said that the 64-year-old actor "collapsed while he was at his wife's brother's house", reports the website of International Business Times.

Reports have now emerged, saying Sreeekumar's photo is fake and is photoshopped.

Sreekumar was seriously injured in a road accident on March 10, 2012 near Kozhikode in north Kerala while he was dashing off in the early hours to reach a shooting location on the Kerala-Karnataka border. Jagathy, who has recovered after the accident, recently made a few public appearances and also attended some programmes on TV channels.

In a career starting in the early 1970s, he has acted in more than 1,100 films and has been an integral part in the film industry here.

In 2011 alone, of the 70 Malayalam films that found its way into the theatres, Jagathy acted in 24 films.