South filmmaker Velu Prabhakaran dies, married 25 years younger actress at the age of 60

Popular Tamil director, cinematographer, and actor Velu Prabhakaran passed away in a private hospital in Chennai in the early hours of Friday (July 28). His family members confirmed the news. They informed that he has passed away due to a long-standing illness. The director has been in the ICU for the past few days in critical condition.

Velu Prabhakaran's body will be kept for public tributes at Valasaravakkam in Chennai from Saturday evening (July 19) to Sunday afternoon (July 20). The film industry has been mourning the death of Velu Prabhakaran since the news came. His last rites will be performed on Sunday evening at Porur crematorium in the presence of his close family and friends.

The filmmaker was previously married to actress-director Jayadevi. After several years of separation, they remarried at the age of 60. In 2017, he married actress Shirley Das. Shirley Das acted in his 2009 film 'Kadhal Kadhai'.

Velu started his film career as a cinematographer. In 1989, he made his directorial debut with the film 'Naalaya Manithan'. A year later, he directed its sequel 'Adhisaaya Manithan'. Velu focused on directing action films in the late 90s and early 2000s.

Velu Prabhakaran has been acting in films since 2019. Some of his famous films include 'Gangs of Madras', 'Kadavar', 'Pizza 3: The Mummy', 'Raid', and 'Weapon'. His last film was 'Gajanana'.