Udhaya on Choudary: 'My First Producer, A Father, A God'

The tribute wave for RB Choudary, who died in a Jodhpur road accident on Tuesday afternoon, has spread through the directors he gave first films to — Vikraman, K S Ravikumar, Lingusamy, Ezhil, Sasi. The actor side of his discoveries has been quieter, in part because the people who fall into that category are fewer and tend to phrase their grief in longer registers. Udhaya, whose 2000 debut Thirunelveli was the film Choudary pushed into production with his name attached as the introducing producer, posted a written tribute on Wednesday morning that lays out the relationship in more detail than any of the same-day notes.

“From the moment I heard this devastating news, I have been in a state of shock so deep I cannot speak,” Udhaya begins. “For me, Mr R B Choudary was not just my first producer or my mentor. He was a divine figure. The reason I stand before you today as an actor is that, in the year 2000, he said the words ‘I am introducing Udhaya’ and put me on screen for the first time, in Thirunelveli. He had introduced many directors and technicians before that. But the fact that I was the first person he introduced as a hero is something that has filled me with pride and emotion ever since. That moment was the beginning of my life.”

The note widens out from there. Udhaya describes Choudary as a father figure who also functioned as a friend — the producer who would talk openly about the commercial pressures and structural problems of the industry, rather than the kind who keeps junior collaborators outside those conversations. “Jiiva, Ramesh and I all grew up together,” he writes, naming Choudary’s two actor sons. “He treated the heroes and directors he introduced as his own children. He kept giving opportunities to talented people, and that is how he carried Tamil cinema into its next phase.”

The most specific section of the tribute is about production. When Udhaya himself moved into producing later in his career, Choudary’s response, by Udhaya’s account, was characteristically blunt. “Do you really need this in today’s industry climate? You are a good actor; focus on acting. But if you do succeed as a producer too, I will be happier about it than you are.” That second line — the older producer reading the calculus, registering the warning, and then cleanly committing to be the first to celebrate if it worked anyway — is the one Udhaya pulls forward as the pattern of how Choudary handled the people he had once launched.

He continues into the union politics that have defined the last few years for Tamil film labour. Choudary, Udhaya writes, advised him during his recent Producers Council election run, and stood beside him through both the actors’ and producers’ union election cycles. “At every stage, he was the strength behind me.” The line is worth sitting with because the producers’ council in particular has been a contested space in Tamil cinema’s recent past, and being publicly backed by the founder of Super Good Films was not a casual endorsement.

The closing of Udhaya’s tribute drops the formal tone entirely. “Yesterday, we lost him through an accident. I cannot even begin to digest that. I had a habit of seeking his blessings before starting any new venture. To have lost a presence like that today is a loss not just for me but for the entire film industry. I do not know how to console Jiiva, Ramesh, Suresh sir, or the rest of the family. As a son introduced by him, I want to say this: ‘Appa, you are still with us, always.’ I cannot accept this news of the accident. Even now, I feel as though you are still in the Super Good Films office. I pray for the peace of your soul. You will continue to be our god, guiding us. My one wish is that the line ‘R B Choudary Vazhangum’ lights up screens again, and that the work you began continues bringing new talent into the light.”

The final rites are scheduled in Chennai later today. The body, transported overnight from Rajasthan, is expected at the family home by mid-morning.