Actor Karthik Sabesh, nephew of music director Deva, dies at 37

Music director Deva's nephew, actor Karthik Sabesh, passes away

Chennai, Oct 20

He was only 37. The young actor is survived by his wife Ramya Karthik and two daughters.

Sources close to the family told IANS that the actor, who has acted in several Tamil films including Dum, Vallavan, Pattathu Yaanai and Kulir 100, had been unwell for some time and had been undergoing treatment at a private hospital in the city where he breathed his last at around 11.15 pm on Monday night.

Sources said that the mortal remains of the actor would be taken home shortly where it would be kept for the public to pay homage. The last rites of the actor are to be held at the Valasaravakkam burial ground in the city at 4.30 pm on Tuesday.

Karthik Sabesh is the son of Sabesh, the brother of late music director Deva. For the unaware, Deva had scored music for over 400 films in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada.

The news of Karthik Sabesh's demise has come as a double whammy to the film industry and to the actor's family, which are yet to recover from the shock caused by the sudden demise of well known music director Deva, who passed away on Saturday.

On Saturday, the Tamil film industry had plunged into gloom as the news of the demise of the accomplished music director, who went by the title 'Thenisai Thendral', emerged.

Several celebrities including Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay had paid homage to the late music director, who is credited with having scored music for several blockbusters including Superstar Rajinikanth's 'Annamalai', 'Arunachalam' and 'Baasha'.

The music director is also known for having introduced the popular Gaana form of music to cinema. Deva, who composed several Gaana songs, has also sung several numbers.

— IANS