We’ve lost a good actor, and a great friend: SP Muthuraman

On Saturday night, Kannada’s Rebel Star Ambareesh breathed his last in Bengaluru. The actor-politician was admitted to a private hospital in Bengaluru following a cardiac arrest, but reports suggest that he was ‘brought dead’. Even as family, friends and fans thronged the Kanteerava Stadium, where his mortal remains were kept, on Sunday to pay their tributes, love for the actor continued to pour on social media as well. Rajinikanth was among the first to reach the stadium, and he broke down after seeing his “best friend” Ambareesh being laid to rest. He also interacted with his wife, actress Sumalatha.
A source says, “Rajini and Ambareesh have known each other even before they acted together in Priya, and have always made it a point to meet whenever they were in the same city. Rajini was hosted by the Kannada superstar when the former was shooting for Lingaa in Karnataka, and Rajini had attended his felicitation ceremony as well.”
Though Ambareesh had a flourishing career in Sandalwood, he’s appeared in a handful of Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and Hindi films as well. Interestingly, he starred in the Kannada remake of Pa Pandi — titled Ambi Ning Vayassaytho — recently.
Recalling the time when he shot for Priya, in which he played Sridevi’s boyfriend, veteran director SP Muthuraman says, “We were filming together in Singapore and Malaysia, and I’ll cherish those times forever. He’s a good actor, and more than that, a very good man. He values friendship, and has no airs. We made the film in Tamil and Kannada, and he used to sit in a corner, quietly observing us when we shot for the Tamil portions. When I felt guilty that he had to sit there like that, he’d say, ‘Theirum Muthuraman sir, Tamil-a first mudinga’. He’d patiently wait for us, and then finish the Kannada portions. He’s very sporty, and respects everyone. He became an MP, a minister… but even then, he valued old friendships. His wife, Sumalatha, has acted in a lot of our films. So, I was close to the entire family and I last met them at a family function. My deepest condolences to his near and dear ones. We’ve lost a very good actor, a very good politician, and a great friend today.”
The actor, along with wife Sumalatha, was also a regular at the Class of the 80s reunion, annually organised in Chennai, which sees actors from the 80s and 90s get together.