Tamil film producer K Rajan dies by suicide in Chennai; police launch investigation

CHENNAI: Tamil film producer K Rajan died by suicide on Sunday after allegedly jumping off the Adyar bridge in Chennai, police said.

Police said that K Rajan, 85, a resident of Washermenpet, was a film producer.

On Sunday evening, he had arrived in the Adyar area along with his driver, Dhanasekar, of Tondiarpet in his car. He reportedly instructed the driver to park the vehicle near the Thiru-Vi-Ka bridge, stating that he would go for a walk.

He then went for a walk onto the bridge and, after some time, jumped from it into the river below.

Based on the information provided at the police station, the Adyar Police, arrived at the scene and conducted further inquiries.

The Fire and Rescue Services Department was alerted, and personnel from the Saidapet Fire Station have since reached the location and are continuing operations. His body has been sent for a post mortem to Royapettah Govt hospital.

The reason behind his extreme step was not known.

Rajan has repeatedly highlighted structural unprofitability in Tamil cinema, attributing it to budgets that exceed realistic box office returns, often driven by exorbitant remuneration for lead actors and key crew. He critiques the star-centric economic model where actor salaries dominate budgets and prioritize fame over audience viability, leading to frequent producer losses.

Rajan launched his son Prabhukanth as an actor in 2000, who acted in his first lead role through Aval Paavam (2000). Prabhukanth also featured as the antagonist in Doubles (2000), and later made a return as a film director through LKG (2019).

(Assistance for those having suicidal thoughts is available on TN’s health helpline 104 and Sneha’s suicide prevention helpline 044-24640050.)