Tamil actor and director SS Stanley, best known for helming films like April Maadhathil, Pudhukottaiyilirundhu Saravanan and Mercury Pookkal, passed away on Tuesday (April 15) due to health-related complications. He was 57.
According to reports, Stanley was undergoing treatment for kidney-related issues over the past few years. Reports also state that actor Dhanush had been financially supporting Stanley’s treatment.
Stanley made his directorial debut with 2002’s April Maadhathil, starring Srikanth and Sneha. The romance drama was well acclaimed, and Stanley followed it up with 2004’s Pudhukottaiyilirundhu Saravanan, starring Dhanush and Aparna Pillai. The film ended up as an average grosser at the box office.
After his sophomore film, Stanley began working on an untitled film with Ravi Krishna and Sonia Agarwal. The project, unfortunately, landed in financial trouble and failed to take off.
Stanley then reunited with Srikanth for Mercury Pookkal, featuring Meera Jasmine as the female lead. 2006’s Kizhakku Kadalkarai Salai, his third film with Srikanth, failed at the box office and remains his final directorial project. In 2015, Stanley was set to direct Vaibhav and Andrea Jeremiah in a film under AR Murugadoss’ production; the project, however, was dropped.
Interestingly, after his stint as a director, Stanley shifted his focus towards acting and popularly played the role of Dravidian leader CN Annadurai in the 2007 biopic of Periyar EV Ramasamy, Periyar. As an actor, Stanley has been a part of several notable films, such as Andavan Kattalai, Kadugu, Sarkar, Bommai Nayagi, and Maharaja.
Since the news of his demise, fans and industry colleagues have been expressing their condolences on social media.
Published – April 15, 2025 01:14 pm IST