CHENNAI:A grandiose dream to recreate on celluloid the magic of Ratha Kanneer (Tears of Blood), the magnum opus of M R Radha, who was a popular stage artiste and a star of Tamil cinema during the black-and-white era, drowned in a swimming pool along with the grandson of the late iconic actor, known for his baritone.
M R R Vasu Sathish, son of Radha’s eldest son late M R Vasu, who was also a well-known comedian of yesteryear in Kollywood, was at a farmhouse in Poonthandalam village near Kundrathur on Friday when he met with the tragic end. He visited the place planning to zero in on the farmhouse as a locale for shooting a new version of Ratha Kanneer, which would have been his maiden celluloid venture.
A television actor otherwise, 44-year-old Sathish had been nursing for quite some time the dream of donning the role of Mohan, a rich philanderer who does not lose his sense of humour even after being reduced to begging as a leprosy patient, which was essayed by his grandfather with pomp and panache. He made an announcement of his plans to recreate Ratha Kanneer last August and since then had been involved in the process of finalising the crew, cast and locales. As part of this, he had gone to the farmhouse with family and friends.
Around 6.30 pm, Sathish was said to be in high spirits when he took a plunge into the pool and drowned. Family members and friends struggled to pull him out of the pool and rushed him to a nearby hospital, where he died. Sathish, who had recently undergone surgery for removal of a tumour in the brain, died of ‘cardiac arrest’, according to the autopsy report. He is survived by his wife and three daughters. The family lives in West Mambalam.