Tamil Nadu Today: Director Bharathiraja passes away

Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription

The View From India Looking at World Affairs from the Indian perspective.

First Day First Show News and reviews from the world of cinema and streaming.

Today's Cache Your download of the top 5 technology stories of the day.

Data Point Decoding the headlines with facts, figures, and numbers

Health Matters Ramya Kannan writes to you on getting to good health, and staying there

The Hindu On Books Books of the week, reviews, excerpts, new titles and features.

Bharathiraja in a still from ‘Rocky’ | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Renowned Tamil film director Bharathiraja passed away in Chennai today (June 10, 2026). The ace director who had been ailing for a while, was 84.

Celebrated for shifting Tamil cinema from studio-bound film-making to authentic rural landscapes, he is fondly known as Iyakkunar Imayam (Pinnacle among Directors). Bharathiraja won six National Film Awards, four Filmfare Awards (South), six Tamil Nadu State Film Awards and a Nandi Award.

He was instrumental in introducing several new actors in Tamil cinema. In a characteristic move, he rechristened many actors with names beginning with the letter ‘R’, gifting the industry with talented artistes including Radikaa, Revathi, Radha, Ranjitha and Rekha.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay called on President of India Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan, Vice President of India C.P. Radhakrishnan, Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi.

Mr. Vijay, who embarked on a three-day official visit to the national capital to take part in the 11th Governing Council meeting of NITI Aayog on Thursday, departed from Chennai on a special flight this morning.

The Chennai cyber crime cell informed the Madras High Court that YouTuber Mukhtar Ahmed (50) was arrested yesterday in connection with a criminal case booked against him for having indulged in character assassination by making sexually coloured remarks against a woman functionary of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and also in connection with another criminal case.

The Coimbatore District Police filed the charge sheet against the two persons arrested for the abduction, sexual assault and murder of a 10-year-old girl near Sulur on May 21.

The 819-page chargesheet, which has 104 prosecution witnesses and 215 documents, was submitted before the Special Court for the trial of cases registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act in 18 days since the crime occurred.

Tamil N