Chennai, Veteran Tamil film actor and National award winner Srikanth,who was former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa’s first hero in her debut film ‘VenniraAadai’, died here late last night after a brief illness.He was 82.An active theatre artiste of renowned director K Balachander troupe, the actor madehis debut in 1965 in ‘Vennira Aadai’, which was directed by C.V. Sridhar. It also markedthe debut film for Ms Jayalalithaa.Srikanth, who had acted in several roles, featured alongside actors Sivaji Ganesan,Muthuraman, Jayashankar and others.His popular films included ‘Bama Vijayam’, ‘Nootrukku Nooru’, ‘Ethir Neechal’, ‘Praptham”Kaasedhan Kadavulada’ and ‘Thanga Padakkam’ featuring Sivaji Ganesan in the lead role.He played the antagonist in Rajinikanth’s film ‘Bairavi’, and later went on to work with bothRajinikanth and Kamal Haasan in their films.The 1974 film ‘Dikkatra Parvathi’ in which he starred opposite actress Lakshmi won theNational award for best Tamil Film.Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K Stalin and Superstar Rajinikanth condoled the death ofSrikanth.In his condolence message, Mr.Stalin said the actor was introduced in cinema by directorSridhar and had acted in several memorable movies.“Since he lived in our locality, I knew him personally. I have had the opportunity to meet him personally on several occasions,” he said and offered his heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family members.Rajinikanth took to twitter to offer his condolences. ‘Saddened by the demise of my good friend Srikanth. May his soul rest in peace”.Various film personalities also condoled the death of the veteran actor.
