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. 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. 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'.