Viji Chandrasekhar condoles death of director Vikram Sugumaran, urges people not to overwork

Condolences have been pouring in for director Vikram Sugumaran whose sudden passing has shocked fans and industry professionals. Actor Viji Chandrasekhar, who played a pivotal role in the director's Madha Yaanai Koottam, appealed to people, asking them not to overwork or take stress upon themselves.

On hearing the news of the director's untimely demise, the Aarohanam actor issued a video statement saying, "Vikram Sugumaran's demise comes as a big shock to me. I have acted in his film Madhayaanai Kootam. It was a film that fetched me a lot of fame. He was a very talented director." Stating that the passionate director had called her two months ago to say that he was to start his next film in Tamil month of Thai, Viji Chandrasekhar said the director sounded very excited that he had written a good script.

"I can't comprehend what is happening to everyone. People who are there today aren't there tomorrow. I express my deepest sympathies to all his family members and friends in the film fraternity," she said, urging people to not take stress upon themselves. "I've realised recently that only those who are working day and night, taking extreme stress on to themselves are losing their lives. All of you look after your health. I am feeling very scared. You all know what the reasons for stress are. If you avoid them and give importance to your health, such an end will not happen. It's a big loss to the film industry. Vikram Sugumaran had a lot of dreams. He would talk about them a lot to me and discuss all his scripts. Now all that has become meaningless. Deepest condolences," she said.

The director is well known for helming films like Madha Yaanai Koottam and Raavana Kottam. As per reports, the director was at Madurai to narrate a story to a producer. When he boarded a bus to return to Chennai, he suffered from a fatal cardiac arrest. Though he was rushed to a nearby hospital, doctors were unable to resuscitate him.

Vikram, who hailed from Paramakudi, Ramanathapuram, was an erstwhile assistant to Balu Mahendra and worked with the filmmaker between 1999 and 2000 on several of his short films, including Julie Ganapathy. Having come to Chennai with the aspiration of becoming an actor, Vikram made his acting debut in Vetrimaaran’s Polladhavan. Eventually finding his passion in filmmaking, Vikram made his directorial debut with Madha Yaanai Koottam.