Actor Pandu, who has starred in several Tamil films, passed away in Chennai on Thursday morning. He was 74 years old and was hospitalised after testing positive for COVID-19. He is survived by his wife and three sons.
Mr. Pandu made his acting debut in the 1981 film Karaiyellam Shenbagapoo and went on to essay comedy roles in over 550 films including Kaadhal Kottai, Badri, Citizen, Pammal K. Samandham and Kanchana 2.
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A well known artist, Pandu had designed the ‘two leaves’ symbol and the flag of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK).
In a 2016 interview to The Hindu, Pandu recalled how he had been called by AIADMK founder M G Ramachandran (MGR) the day the announcement about the floating the party had been made to design the party flag. Before the 1977 election, he was once again called by MGR to design the party’s two leaves symbol.
His association with MGR, he had said, began in 1973 when he designed stickers for the actor's film Ulagam Suttrum Valiban.
Pandu was also running a company called ‘Capital Letters’ and had designed name boards for the residences and offices of many members of the Tamil film fraternity.
In a joint statement, AIADMK leaders O. Panneerselvam and Edappadi K. Palaniswami condoled the death of Pandu. They extended their condolences to the bereaved family
