Obituaries
Singaporean actor's three-decade career spanned two countries
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Singaporean television actor and host Anandha Kannan, who had a three-decade-long career in Singapore and India, died on Monday. He was 48.
According to a report in Indian newspaper Hindustan Times, Kannan died of bile duct cancer. He died in Singapore.
Kannan started out as an actor and host on Mediacorp channel Vasanthambefore moving to Chennai, India, where he became a popular video jockey (VJ) on station Sun TV.
He later acted in films such as Tamil science-fiction movie Adhisaya Ulagam (World Of Wonders, 2012).
On Vasantham, he hosted programmes such as gameshow Savaal Singapore (2013 to 2018). In 2011, he won Best Host at the station's awards show, Pradhana Vizha.
He was also active in Singapore's arts scene as a director of arts company AK Theatre and a trainer at entertainment and arts company AKT Creations.
Many of his contemporaries and fans took to social media to pay tribute and offer condolences.
Indian director Venkat Prabhu, who worked with Kannan in the 2008 Tamil comedy-thriller Saroja, described him as "a great friend and a great human" in a tweet.
In social media posts, Vasantham said Kannan had done Singapore proud with a successful career as a VJ, host and actor in India from the late 1990s to the 2000s. "His contribution to the local arts scene and the multiple roles he donned will continue to be an inspiration to many generations."
In an Instagram post, Singaporean singer-songwriter Shabir called Kannan "a man who walked on his own path".
"He was an authentic human being who bridged his life experiences and virtues into his artistry. We have lost the human form of a very unique, precious, socially conscious, culturally enriched and supremely talented emcee, actor and personality," he wrote.
Singaporean actor Jay Nesh wrote on Instagram that Kannan was a "beautiful soul". "He speaks ill of no one... A positive ball of energy. He was an incomparable poetic blessed soul."
Correction note: An earlier version of the story said Kannan died in Trichy, a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, according to a report by Indian newspaper DT Next. This has been corrected.
