NEW DELHI — Indian actor Farooq Shaikh, the plump, unlikely hero of scores of Bollywood films, has died. He was 65.



Press Trust of India reported that Shaikh suffered a heart attack Friday in Dubai, where he was visiting with his family.



Shaikh’s film career began on a high note with the 1973 new wave film “Garm Hawa,” about the 1947 partition of the subcontinent at the end of British rule. His performance earned him a key role in director Satyajit Ray’s “The Chess Players,” about the decadence of India’s feudal classes.



Shaikh’s cherubic looks struck a chord with ordinary people who tended to identify with his man on the street image. Bollywood reacted sadly to the news of Shaikh’s death, with several celebrities tweeting their condolences. — AP