Tamil Filmmaker Velu Prabhakaran Passes Away At 68: Public Homage And Funeral Scheduled

Velu Prabhakaran Passes Away: Tamil filmmaker, cinematographer, and actor Velu Prabhakaran passed away in the early hours of Friday, July 18, at a private hospital in Chennai. He was 68. According to a report by India Today, the director had been battling a prolonged illness and had been in critical condition in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for the past few days. Reportedly, his family confirmed the news of his death.

According to India Today, public homage for Velu Prabhakaran will take place at Valasaravakkam in Chennai from the evening of Saturday, July 19, through the afternoon of Sunday, July 20. The cremation is scheduled to take place on Sunday evening at the Porur crematorium, in the presence of close friends and family.

From Director to Actor, A Career Marked by Bold Themes and Setbacks

Velu Prabhakaran began his film journey as a cinematographer and made his directorial debut with the 1989 horror film Nalaya Manithan. He followed it up with its sequel, Adhisaya Manithan, in 1990. While his early work explored sci-fi and horror themes, he soon shifted to socially conscious action dramas. Films like Kadavul (1997), Sivan (1999), and Puratchikkaaran (2000) reflected his focus on revolutionary themes and atheistic ideologies.

In the 2000s, Prabhakaran began working on Kadhal Arangam, a film dealing with caste, sex education, and societal taboos. The project faced extensive pushback from the censor board due to its content. The filmmaker eventually agreed to remove certain scenes, mute specific dialogues, and rename the film Kadhal Kadhai, which was released in 2009. Prabhakaran described the film as partly autobiographical, even including a video message in which he discussed the challenges he faced in getting the film released.

Though Kadhal Kadhai received harsh criticism from reviewers, he continued to pursue other ambitious projects like Devadasi, Mugamoodi Koothu, and Kalainganin Kadhal, none of which came to fruition. Velu Prabhakaran's final film as a director was Oru Iyakkunarin Kadhal Diary, which came out in 2017.

In recent years, Velu Prabhakaran appeared in supporting roles in films such as Gangs of Madras, Jango, Anti Indian, Cadaver, Pizza 3: The Mummy, Raid, Weapon, and Appu VI STD. His final on-screen appearance was in Gajaana.

Prabhakaran was previously married to actor-director Jayadevi. He married actor Shirley Das in 2017, at the age of 60. She had earlier appeared in his film Kadhal Kadhai.