Popular Tamil actor Rajesh passes away, film industry mourns demise

CHENNAI: Popular actor, writer and dubbing artiste Rajesh passed away. He was 75. He had been undergoing treatment for severe breathing difficulties. His condition turned worse Thursday morning and breathed his last. The Tamil film industry has mourned the death of the legend.

The actor had been in the film field for more than 50 years. He has acted in more than 150 films in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films. His debut was through ‘Aval Oru Thodarkathai’ released in 1974. His first lead role was in the film ‘Kanni Paruvathile’ released in 1979.

His other main films are Sathya, Mahanadi, Virumandi, Jaihind, Iruvar, Nerukku Ner, Deena, Citizen, Ramana, Red, Saamy, Sivakasi, Mazhai, Dharmapuri, Thiruppathi, Sarkar, Master etc. He has acted in Malayalam films like Alakal, Itha Oru Penkutty, and Abhimanyu. Rajesh had dubbed for Malayalam actors Murali, Nedumudi Venu, and Joy Mathew in Tamil. His last film was 'Merry Christmas', directed by Sriram Raghavan and released in 2024. He was also active in television industry. The Tamil film industry mourns the loss of his death.

His wife Joan Silvia predeceased him in 1983. The couple has two children.

Deeply shocked and sudden to hear of #rajesh s unexpected demise. Shared so many movies together and had a deep respect to his wide knowledge of cinema and life, will be missed by family, friends and film fraternity. #RIP🙏🙏🙏 pic.twitter.com/o0IQQaQtTU

— Radikaa Sarathkumar (@realradikaa) May 29, 2025