Veteran filmmaker AB Raj passes away at 95
Veteran film director and producer AB Raj (aka Antony Basker Raj) has passed away. He was 95. The filmmaker died due to a cardiac arrest in Chennai around 8 pm on Sunday. His last rites were held this afternoon at 3 pm, per reports. Over the course of four decades, Raj made more than 50 films across languages. May his soul rest in peace.
Raj started his career in the 1950s in Sri Lanka
AB Raj started his career as a filmmaker during the 1950s while he lived in Sri Lanka. There, he made more than 10 films in the Sinhalese language. Then, in the late 1960s, Raj started making movies in Malayalam. They included Danger Biscuit (1969), Marunnattil Oru Malayali (1971), Football Champion (1973), Rahasyarathri (1974) and Honeymoon (1974).
He also made two Tamil movies during the '70s
AB Raj also went on to make Malayalam movies such as Oomana Kunju (1975), Seemantha Puthran (1976), Aval Oru Devaalayam (1977), Raju Rahim (1978), Kazhukan (1979), Thaalam Thettiya Tharattu (1983), Manase Ninakku Mangalam (1984), and Ormikkan Omanikkan (1985). He also made two Tamil movies during the 1970s, namely Thulli Odum Pullimaan and Kai Niraya Kasu.
Raj is the father of noted actor Saranya Ponvannan
Interestingly, AB Raj had also assisted British filmmaker David Lean during the making of 1957 movie The Bridge on the River Kwai, the cult classic based on French novelist Pierre Boulle's book by the same name. Raj is the father of Saranya Ponvannan (51), who is a noted actor in the southern film industry.
Entertainment industry lost many stars this year
This year, the entertainment industry lost many stars. Earlier, in June, veteran filmmaker Basu Chatterjee passed away at the age of 90. Celebrities like actor Sushant Singh Rajput (34), music composer and singer Wajid Khan (43), veteran actor Jagdeep, choreographer Saroj Khan, and celebrated actors Irrfan Khan and Rishi Kapoor also bid adieu this year.
