Renowned
Sandalwood
director
Pradeep
Raj
breathed
his
last
on
Thursday
(January
20)
morning
at
a
private
hospital
in
Bengaluru.
Reportedly,
the
helmer
succumbed
to
COVID-19
related
complications.
His
funeral
service
will
be
held
today
in
Pondicherry.
Pradeep
is
survived
by
his
wife
and
two
children.
Following
the
news
of
his
death,
condolence
messages
have
been
pouring
in
on
social
media.
Pradeep
previously
directed
the
2019
action
drama
Girgitle.
He
had
also
helmed
KGF
star
Yash's
Kirataka
(2011)
and
Kichcha
Sudeep's
Kichchu
(2018).
The
superhit
film
Kirataka
is
known
as
one
of
the
stepping
stones
of
Yash,
which
made
him
a
household
name.
The
entertainer
is
a
remake
of
the
2010
Tamil
romantic
comedy-drama
Kalavani
starring
Oviya
and
Kamal.
Notably,
Oviya
was
retained
in
the
Kannada
remake.
Interestingly,
Kirataka
was
the
3000th
Kannada
film
to
be
released
in
theatres.
On
the
other
hand,
Kichchu
also
featuring
Ragini
Dwivedi
had
Kichcha
Sudeep
making
a
special
appearance.
Saikumar
and
Suchendra
Prasad
were
also
a
part
of
the
2018
film.