Veteran Tamil comedian Vivek passes away in Chennai

Chennai: Tamil movie comedian and Padma Shri recipient Vivekh passed away on Saturday at a private hospital in Chennai, IANS reported. He was 59.

He was admitted to SIMS Hospital on Friday morning after showing "acute coronary syndrome with cardiogenic shock".

Vivekh who was in a critical condition was put on Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) support, the hospital said.

Vivekh was brought to the emergency ward of the hospital in an unconscious state at about 11 a.m. on Friday by his family members, the hospital said.

The hospital said he was resuscitated in the emergency room by specialists and later underwent an emergency coronary angiogram followed by an angioplasty.

According to the doctors, Vivek had complained to his family members about chest pain.

,Telangana Governor and Lt.Governor of Puducherry Tamilisai Soundararajan condoled his death and said that Vivekh through his comedy dialogues had spread good social messages and earned the sobriquet "Chinna Kalaivannara" or Little Kalaivannar (Late Tamil movie comedian N.S. Krishnan had the sobriquet Kalaivannar) and was also an environmentalist in planting lakhs of tree saplings.

Vivekh born as Vivekanandan in Kovilpattin, Tamil Nadu, made his entry into the Tamil movie field in 1987 in the movie "Manathil Urudhi Vendum" directed by the late K. Balachander.

Soon he was in great demand and has acted with top heroes like Rajinikanth, Vijay, Ajith, Surya and others. He has acted in over 200 movies.

Vivekh was awarded the Padma Shri in 2009 and the Kalaivannar award from the Tamil Nadu government.