CHENNAI: Tamil actor Raghu Balaiah, popularly known as Junior Balaiah, died in the early hours of Thursday at his residence in Valasaravakkam. The seventy-year-old died due to a heart attack and was reportedly unwell for a while.
The third son of veteran actor TS Balaiah made his debut with the 1975 Tamil film, Melnaattu Marumagal. He was re-christened as Junior Balaiah by his father when he decided to enter cinema. Over the years, he has been part of well-known films like Karagattakaran, Winner, Sundara Kandam, Kumki, Thani Oruvan, Puli and Nerkonda Paarvai, as a supporting artist. He was also equally famous on the small screen and was part of hit soaps like Chithi and Vazhkai. His last on-screen appearance was for the 2021 SonyLiv film, Yennanga Sir Unga Sattam.
He was also an Executive Member of the South Indian Artistes’ Association. Actors like Kovai Sarala, Sriman, Vignesh and Poochi Murugan, who are a part of the executive panel of the association visited his residence to convey their condolences to his family.
Actor-politician Kamal Haasan mourned the demise of Junior Balaiah through a tweet on the social media platform X. “Raghu aka Junior Balaiah was my teenage friend. He climbed up the ladder to cinema by starting his career in theatre, just like his father. My hearty condolences to his family,” he wrote.
Junior Balaiah’s funeral rites will be performed on Friday.