Manivannan was a father figure: Komal Sharma

Southern actress Komal Sharma, who worked with late actor-director R. Manivannan in his last Tamil directorial outing "Nagaraja Cholan MA, MLA", remembers him as a "father figure" and a "great human being".

Manivannan passed away at his residence here following a cardiac arrest Saturday. He was 58.

"I still can't believe he is no more. I met him two weeks back in his house and we were discussing about his next project. I used to call him 'appa' (father) because he was like a father to me. I will always remember him as a great human being," Komal told IANS.

Komal was hoping to work with him again.

"He wanted to cast me in his next project. We met recently to discuss one of his projects that he wanted start next," said Komal.

She said Manivannan was absolutely fine when she met him, but he was worried about his wife's health condition.

"He said that her health condition was worsening. I know their family very well, especially his son and daughter," she said.

His son Raghuvannan, also an actor, was last seen in "Nagaraja Cholan MA, MLA". He recently signed the dotted line to play lead in upcoming Tamil romantic-drama "Thalattu Machi Thalattu".

Manivannan's daughter Jothi is married and settled with her family.

A noted director, Mannivannan had directed successful Tamil films such as "Pudhu Manithan", "Chinna Thambi Periya Thambi" and "Jalli Kattu".

He also acted in movies, and was seen in projects like "Mudhalvan", "Sangamam" and "Ullathai Allitha". He had acted with his best friend Sathyaraj in over 20 Tamil films in his career, which spanned three decades and over 400 films.