Tamil director K Subash, who wrote Chennai Express, passes away

Chennai: Director-writer K Subash, who has helmed Tamil superhit film 'Chathriyan' and also penned the story of superstar Shah Rukh Khan's 'Chennai Express', died here today following kidney problems. He was 57.

The filmmaker breathed his last at a private hospital here this morning, sources close to the family said. The funeral will be held here tomorrow.

Subash is the son of R Krishnan, one of the two directors of the super hit 'Parasakthi' that launched thespian Sivaji Ganesan in 1952.

He started his career as an assistant to Mani Ratnam in 'Nayagan'. He made his directorial debut with 'Kaliyugam' with Prabhu. His second film 'Chatriyan' starring Vijayakanth was a blockbuster.

The director has made over 20 films in Tamil and Hindi, and was one of the many directors of 'Suyamvaram', a Tamil film which was shot in 24 hours and had a galaxy of stars.

Subash also worked in a number of Hindi films. He wrote the story of Rohit Shetty-directed 'Chennai Express', which starred SRK and Deepika Padukone, and also multi-starrer comedy 'Housefull 3'.

He had earlier directed 'Insaan', starring Akshay Kumar and Ajay Devgn in the lead roles.

He was survived by wife and two daughters.