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Veteran Tamil filmmaker, actor and screenwriter K Bhagyaraj, who passed away in Chennai aged 73, leaves behind a towering legacy in Tamil cinema, where he was celebrated as one of the industry’s finest storytellers.
Known widely as the “screenplay king”, Bhagyaraj built a career around sharp writing, middle-class family dramas and socially rooted characters. He began his journey as an assistant to Bharathiraja before becoming one of Tamil cinema’s most recognisable writer-directors, with films such as Mundhanai Mudichu, Andha 7 Naatkal and Darling, Darling, Darling.
His death on Saturday was followed by an outpouring of tributes from across Tamil Nadu. He was later cremated with state honours at Besant Nagar Electric Crematorium in Chennai.
Beyond cinema, Bhagyaraj was also among those from the Tamil film world who, at key moments, lent public support to Eelam Tamil causes and to protests over Sri Lanka’s treatment of Tamils.
Backing Thirumavalavan’s 2009 fast for Eelam Tamils
In a tribute following Bhagyaraj’s death, VCK leader Thol Thirumavalavan recalled that the filmmaker had come to support him during his 2009 hunger strike in Maraimalai Nagar over Eelam Tamils.
Thirumavalavan had launched the fast during the final stages of Sri Lanka’s military offensive, pressing for India’s intervention to halt the war and begin a peace process. At the time, he accused New Delhi of failing to demand an immediate end to Sri Lanka’s military operations.
Releasing a statement to mark his passing, Thirumavalavan said Bhagyaraj had come to greet him and support the protest.
The intervention placed Bhagyaraj among a wider current of Tamil artists and public figures who mobilised during the final months of the armed conflict, as tens of thousands of Tamils were killed in the genocide.
Joining Tamil cinema’s 2013 fast over Sri Lankan war crimes
Bhagyaraj was also among Tamil film personalities who joined a major industry fast in Chennai in April 2013 over Sri Lanka’s atrocities against Tamils.
The South Indian Film Artistes Association protest brought together some of Tamil cinema’s biggest names. Reports from the time listed Bhagyaraj among those who attended, alongside Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan, Ajith Kumar, Sarath Kumar, Prakash Raj, Sathyaraj, Sivakumar, Suriya and others.
The protest was deliberately held without microphones or speeches, with one association member saying organisers did not want “tempers to flare”. The fast formed part of a wider wave of mobilisation across Tamil Nadu. The Economic Times reported that the agitation demanded an international probe into alleged war crimes.
Other industry protests that month called for stronger action, including economic sanctions on Sri Lanka, an independent investigation into atrocities committed against Tamils and a referendum for a separate Tamil Eelam.
Confronting Sri Lanka over Tamil Nadu fishermen
One of Bhagyaraj’s clearest political statements on Sri Lanka came in August 2014, when he joined Tamil film figures at a protest near the Sri Lankan Deputy High Commission in Chennai.
The demonstration was held after Sri Lanka’s defence website published an offensive article about then Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa’s letters to Indian prime minister Narendra Modi over Tamil Nadu fishermen.
Actors and directors including Vijay, Suriya, Sivakumar, Seeman, Sarath Kumar, Vikraman and Bhagyaraj took part in the protest, where slogans were raised against the Sri Lankan state.
The protest reflected anger across Tamil Nadu over Sri Lanka’s repeated detention of Tamil Nadu fishermen and the wider indifference shown by both Colombo and New Delhi towards Tamil concerns.
‘Tamil will never be destroyed’
In later years, Bhagyaraj also used cultural platforms to encourage Eelam Tamil artists.
In 2023, he launched Ennuyir Geethangal 50, an album by Switzerland-based Eelam Tamil artist Santharoobi Ambaladiyal, who wrote, composed and sang the 50-song collection.
Speaking at the event, Bhagyaraj said he felt “jealous” seeing someone born and raised elsewhere doing so much for Tamil. He told the audience not to worry about the future of the language.
“தமிழ் என்றுமே அழியாது.”
“Tamil will never be destroyed,” he said, according to Hindu Tamil Thisai.
Bhagyaraj compared Ambaladiyal to Kuyili, the woman warrior from Velu Nachiyar’s army, and said her lyrics contained both bravery and love. He added that artists like her should enter the film industry.
For Eelam Tamils, whose language, land and political identity have faced decades of state violence and erasure in Sri Lanka, the statement carried resonance beyond the stage.
A quieter but visible solidarity
Bhagyaraj’s public record on Sri Lanka and Eelam Tamils, showcases moments where the filmmaker stood with Tamil Nadu’s protests, supported calls for justice and later encouraged Eelam Tamil cultural work in the diaspora.
His passing marks the loss of a major figure in Tamil cinema.