Popular Kollywood stuntman Raju died on the set of Arya's next film, directed by Pa Ranjith. The tragic incident took place on July 13 when Raju was performing a risky car stunt. Visuals from the film set are doing the rounds on social media.
What's Happening
In a viral video shot from the film set, we can see Raju driving an SUV for a scene. The car, moving at a high speed, went over a ramp, lost balance, and toppled, landing hard on its front end.
Soon, the crew is seen rushing towards the spot of the accident.
The news of Raju's death was confirmed by Tamil actor Vishal on X. He had collaborated with him on many films.
Sharing the news on X, Raju wrote, "So difficult to digest the fact that stunt artist Raju passed away while doing a car-toppling sequence for jammy @arya_offl and @beemji Ranjith's film this morning. I have known Raju for so many years. He has performed so many risky stunts in my films time and time again as he is such a brave person."
He also extended support to the victim's family. "My deepest condolences, and may his soul rest in peace. May God give more strength to his family for their grave loss. Not just this tweet, but I will definitely be there for his family's future, being from the same film industry and also for his contribution to so many films. From the bottom of my heart and as my duty, I extend my support to them. God bless."
Popular stunt choreographer Silva also mourned his death on Instagram, "One of our great car jumping stunt artist, S M Raju, died today while doing car stunts. Our stunt union and Indian film industry will be missing him (sic)," he wrote in the caption.
Raju was working on a film which is the sequel to the 2021 Tamil drama Sarpatta Parambarai. It is expected to release in theatres in 2026.
In A Nutshell
In a tragic incident, popular Stuntman Raju died on Pa Rajnith's film set after a car stunt went wrong.