Noted
Malayalam
filmmaker
AB
Raj,
also
known
as
A
Bhaskar
Raj,
who
had
been
active
in
the
world
of
movies
since
1951,
passed
away
at
his
residence
in
Chennai
on
Sunday
(August
23),
film
industry
sources
said.
The
95-year-old
director
died
of
cardiac
arrest,
according
to
his
son-in-law
Ponvannan.
Raj
is
survived
by
three
children,
including
noted
actress
Saranya
Ponvannan.
Born
in
Madurai
in
1925,
Raj
started
his
film
career
in
the
late
1940s
under
the
guidance
of
TR
Sundaram.
The
filmmaker
went
to
Sri
Lanka
in
1951
and
during
his
10-year-long
stay
there,
he
had
directed
11
Sinhalese
movies,
Film
Employees
Federation
of
Kerala
(FEFKA)
Directors'
Union
said
in
a
statement
in
Kochi.
Condoling
the
death,
the
union
said
that
the
veteran
filmmaker,
whose
parents
belonged
to
Alappuzha
in
Kerala,
had
directed
around
50
Malayalam
films
between
1968
and
1985.
Kaliyalla
Kalyanam
was
his
first
Malayalam
movie.
Sasthram
Jayichu
Manushyan
Thottu,
Pachanottukal,
Kazhukan,
Irumbazhikal,
Light
House
and
Thaalam
Thettiya
Tharattu
are
the
other
popular
Malayalam
movies
directed
by
Raj.
Ormikkan
Omanikkan,
directed
in
1985,
was
his
last
Malayalam
movie.
Raj
has
directed
Tamil
films
too.
Kerala
Chief
Minister
Pinarayi
Vijayan
also
condoled
the
director's
death,
and
said
that
Raj
had
made
notable
contributions
to
the
Malayalam
film
industry.