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Time of India
18-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Velu Prabhakaran, Kollywood's enfant terrible, dead at 68
Chennai: Cinematographer-turned-filmmaker Velu Prabhakaran , who explored diverse themes such as atheism, caste, and sexuality, often courting controversy with the censor board, died at the age of 68 following a prolonged illness. Prabhakaran started his career in films as a cinematographer in 'Ivargal Vithyasamanavargal' in 1980 and made his directorial debut in 1989 with 'Nalaya Manithan', starring Prabu, Amala, and Jaishankar. The science-fiction inspired story, which revolves around a miracle drug that reanimates the dead and turns them immortal, received mixed reviews. You Can Also Check: Chennai AQI | Weather in Chennai | Bank Holidays in Chennai | Public Holidays in Chennai Before moving on to make a sequel, 'Adisaya Manidhan', with Ajay Ratnam and Goutami in 1990, he directed another movie and worked as a cinematographer for G M Kumar's movie 'Pick Pocket', starring Sathyaraj. Seven years later, his movie 'Kadavul' fetched him the state film award for best dialogue writer. His 2004 film titled 'Kadhal Arangam', debuting Preethi Rangayani and Shirley Das in leading roles, took on the caste system and explored sexuality. After a five-year battle with the censor board, in 2009, he re-edited the movie, muted some dialogues, and even changed its title to 'Kadhal Kathai' to get the certification. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Canadian Residents Are Now Eligible for a New Financial Program Canada Today Undo However, in the title credits, he added an extended scene narrating the difficulties in releasing the movie. The same year, the director announced his marriage to Shirley Das. He was earlier married to filmmaker and actor P Jayadevi. Prabhakaran directed his last film, 'Oru Iyakkunarin Kadhal Diary', in 2017. Between 2019 and 2025, Prabhakaran acted in nine films, including 'Pizza 3: The Mummy' and 'Gangs of Madras'.
India Today
18-07-2025
- Entertainment
- India Today
Veteran Tamil director-cinematographer Velu Prabhakaran dies at 68 in Chennai
Popular Tamil filmmaker, cinematographer and actor Velu Prabhakaran died in the early hours of Friday (July 28) at a private hospital in Chennai. His relatives confirmed that he died of a prolonged illness. The filmmaker was in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for the last few days in critical mortal remains will be kept for public homage at Valasaravakkam in Chennai, from Saturday evening (July 19) to Sunday afternoon (July 20). The film industry has been mourning the death of Velu Prabhakaran ever since the news broke. The cremation will take place at Porur crematorium on Sunday evening, in the presence of close family and filmmaker was previously married to actor-director Jayadevi. Years after his separation, he remarried at the age of 60. In 2017, he married actor Shirley Das, who acted in his 2009-film 'Kadhal Kadhai'.VELU PRABHAKARAN'S CAREER Velu began his film career as a cinematographer. In 1989, he made his directorial debut with the 1989 film, Nalaya Manithan'. A year later, he helmed its sequel, 'Adhisaya Manithan'. After tasting two consecutive failures with 'Asuran and Rajali', Velu diverted his attention to helming action films in the late 90s and early 2004, he began work on a film titled 'Kadhal Arangam', featuring newcomers Preethi Rangayani and Shirley Das in 2004. The film touched upon topics including caste system, sexuality. However, the Censor Board of Film Certification (CBFC) objected to certain scenes and dialogues. After a few years, the director agreed to remove objectionable scenes and mute certain dialogues apart from changing the film's title from 'Kadhal Arangam' to 'Kadhal Kadhai'.A video message was added to his film where he explained the difficulties he faced over the years. He also added that some parts of the film were autobiographical. However, the movie was unanimously panned by the 2009, a series of films that the director decided to mount failed to take off. In 2017, he helmed his last directorial, 'Oru Iyakkunarin Kadhal DIary'.Since 2019, Velu Prabhakaran has been taking up acting projects. Some of his notable films include 'Gangs of Madras', 'Cadaver', 'Pizza 3: The Mummy', 'Raid', 'Weapon' and 'Appu VI STD'. His last on-screen appearance was in 'Gajaana'.- Ends
