Chennai: M K Muthu, the eldest son of the late DMK leader M Karunanidhi, who was introduced to Tamil cinema to diminish the impact of matinee idol M G Ramachandran but never achieved significant success as an actor, has passed away at the age of 77.

Muthu was born in 1948 to Karunanidhi and his first wife, Padmavathi, in Thirukuvalai, located in the Nagapattinam district. Padmavathi tragically passed away at the young age of 20 shortly after giving birth to Muthu, due to advanced tuberculosis. Following her death, Karunanidhi remarried Dayalu Ammal, who became the mother of four children: M K Alagiri, M K Stalin, Selvi, and M K Tamilarasu.

For the last twenty years, Muthu had been in poor health and was seldom seen in public. He passed away at his home on East Coast Road on Saturday morning. He is survived by his daughter, Thenmozhi, who is married to C K Ranganathan, the Managing Director of the prominent FMCG company CavinKare.

Initially seen as the political successor to Karunanidhi, who took over the DMK after C N Annadurai and held full control of the party, Muthu was introduced to the film industry in the 1970s.

It was widely known that Karunanidhi, feeling insecure and threatened by MGR’s popularity and rapid rise within the DMK, brought Muthu into cinema to counter the influence of the AIADMK founder.

Muthu made his film debut in 1972—the same year MGR established the AIADMK after his expulsion from the DMK—through the movie Pillaiyo Pillai, with hopes of making a name for himself in Tamil cinema. Despite some initial success, Muthu never achieved significant fame in the film industry and eventually left after acting in a handful of films.

Muthu was often seen as a troubled child for Karunanidhi, who nearly disowned him at one point due to Muthu’s struggles with alcoholism. However, the two reconciled in 2009 after Muthu fell ill. Muthu also caused embarrassment for Karunanidhi by joining the AIADMK, but his political aspirations never materialized.