Radikaa Sarathkumar was among the first to reach veteran filmmaker Bhagyaraj's house as soon as she was informed about his sudden demise on Saturday. From helping the family move the director's mortal remains from the hospital to his residence, the Thaai Kizhavi actor was present with the family to support them in every way possible. However, the actor-producer, along with many others faced unpleasant experiences as several media houses invaded Bhagyaraj's residence to record footages, giving the family as well as close industry people little to no privacy at a time of immense grief.
Criticising media houses' behaviour, Radikaa called for a "restraining order" against media houses from entering funeral homes. "A place where all needed to digress and mourn in silence, turned into a circus, for all who came to pay their respects. Where and when do we change or rather changed to this callousness," she said on her X handle, urging the government and the film industry to draft protocols to give "dignity to departed souls."
She also shared throwback pictures with Bhagyaraj and recalled her 50-year-long friendship with him. She called it a "shocking goodbye" and said, "He is a great creator, an evolved writer, a person who drew wonderful boundaries in Cinema, and a man with whom I shared many laughs, wonderful work. He stood by my family always in his quiet and loyal ways (sic)."
Earlier at his funeral Radikaa pleaded the media fraternity from indulging in invasion of privacy at his residence. "If you want drama for the sake of TRP ratings, I will deliver that through films. Here, give us some privacy, please," said the actor, who starred in multiple K Bhagyaraj films, most notably 1981's Indru Poi Naalai Vaa. Later, visuals of her being mobbed in the crowd, leading to a stampede-like situation, became viral on social media.
Suhasini Maniratnam also condemned this behaviour at his funeral and pushed media personnel from capturing his final procession. At one point, Suhasini can also be heard saying, "I will give you a tight slap with a slipper."
The filmmaker's passing comes a matter of days after the death of legendary filmmaker Bharathiraja, who is also known for his performances in Tamil cinema. Notably, he started his career as an assistant to Bharathiraja in the film 16 Vayathinile.
