Budding filmmaker and popular child actor Lokesh Rajendran passed away on Tuesday, October 4, in Chennai. According to reports, Lokesh died by suicide and the reason behind his extreme decision is yet to be known. But, it is said that he was disturbed and worried about the delay in mounting his debut directorial project. This incident has come as a big shocker among the Tamil film fraternity and condolence messages have been pouring in on social media. For the unversed, Lokesh is best known for his brilliant performance as Raasu in the classic hit Tamil serial, Vidaadhu Karuppu (Marma Desam), which was aired on Sun TV in the late 90s.

Lokesh played the childhood version of Raasu, the lead character, which was portrayed by Chetan. Playing Raasu was a challenge because the character demanded a lot of psychological preparation, but Lokesh delivered an outstanding performance, that he became the audience's favourite. Vidaadhu Karuppu still holds a cult fan following among the masses and people who are still seeing the show on YouTube. Lokesh also acted in the other popular serial, Jee Boomba. Lokesh who initially wanted to become an actor shifted gears and pursued filmmaking as his core.

He directed one of the short films in the popular Tamil anthology film, 6 Athiyayam. The film comprised 6 short films directed by 6 filmmakers. Lokesh's directorial short film was called Soupboy Subramani and it featured Vishnu, Francis, Chandirakanta, Sangeetha, Eswari, Eswar Vel, in the lead roles. Apart from writing and directing, Lokesh also edited the film. The team of Vidaadhu Karuppu recently got together and celebrated the 25th year anniversary of the serial and Lokesh was a part of the celebrations. It is unfortunate that he is no more.

Several prominent personalities from the television and film industry have extended their heartfelt condolences on social media. At this moment, we at Galatta Media extend our deepest condolences to Lokesh's family and friends and prays for the departed soul to rest in peace.