Chennai: Veteran Tamil film producer Ibrahim Rowther, a long-time friend of actor-politician Vijayakanth, passed away at SRM Hospital in the city after a prolonged illness on Wednesday. He was 64.
Hospital sources revealed that Rowther was ailing with kidney and liver malfunction and was not keeping good health ever since he had underwent a heart surgery a few years ago. He had been lying unconscious for the last one week.
Rowther was instrumental in shaping up Vijayakanth’s career, establishing the latter as an ‘action hero’ by producing films such as Pulan Visaranai, Captain Prabhakaran, Bharathan and Poonthotta Kaavalkaran among others. It was Rowther who gave the prefix ‘Captain’ to Vijayakanth at the silver jubilee function of the film Captain Prabhakaran. Both Vijayakanth and Ibrahim Rowther were childhood friends and came from Madurai to Chennai dreaming to make it big in the tinsel town. They achieved it and were together in success as well failures.
Vijayakant is said to be one who made Rowther set up his production company Rowther Films in Arumbakkam, which later became a hub for many young and budding filmmakers. It was Rowther who used to listen to scripts for Vijayakanth and help him select the potential one. Later, they parted ways due to personal reasons. Vijayakanth along with his wife Premalatha and two sons was amongst the first to have rushed to the production house where the mortal remains of the producer have been kept to pay his respects. The actor broke down and wept continuously.
The prolific producer has done more than 35 films in his career and his last film was Puriyatha Anantham Puthithaga Aarambam, which hit the theatres recently. Rowther also served as the president of Tamil Film Producers Council, the most powerful body of the Tamil film industry for two terms. Actor Sarath Kumar who also got a big break in Pulan Visaranai expressed his grief by tweeting “My heartfelt condolences to the next of kin of Rowther, great loss, a great producer above all a great human being may his soul RIP”.
Rowther remained a bachelor and according to family sources his body would be buried at a burial ground in Saligramam on Thursday afternoon. As a mark of respect to the departed soul, Tamil film industry has called off shoots on Thursday (July 23).
