Veteran actor-politico S S Rajendran passes away

Chennai: Legendary yesteryear actor S.S. Rajendran breathed his last on Friday morning at a private hospital in the city where he was admitted for severe lung infection. He was 86. SSR has acted in more than 75 films in his career spanning six decades. He started his career on the stage, acting in plays of the Pulia Maanagar Boys Company in his teens. He was also part of the TKS Brothers Drama Company and Muththamizh Kala Vidva Rathna TKS Sabha.

Though he had acted in a few films earlier, it was Parasakthi, the debut film of the late Sivaji Ganesan which brought him to the limelight. He played the role of Gnanasekharan, the elder brother of Sivaji Ganesan, and his performance was widely acclaimed. His carved a niche for himself for his clear diction of Tamil and this made him a star overnight. He was treated on par with legends like M.G. Ramachandran and Sivaji Ganesan.

SSR set a new trend in Tamil cinema by opting to act in multistarrers. In his heyday in ’50s and ’60s, he never hesitated to share screen space with the then biggies, MGR and Sivaji Ganesan. He acted with MGR in Raja Desingu as Mohammed Khan and in Kanchi Thalaivan as Paranjothi. He worked in many films with Sivaji including Manohara, Rangoon Radha, Raja Rani, Deiva Piravi, Aalayamani, Pachai Vilakku, Kai Kodutha Dheivam, Pazhani, Kungumam and Shanthi.

His leadig ladies were Saroja Devi, Padmini, Vijayakumari, Raja Sulochana, MN Rajam and K.R. Vijaya.