Bhagyarajs Posthumous Letters Spark Backlash Against Son Shanthanu

Posts shared on K Bhagyaraj’s official social media account after his death in Chennai have triggered a public controversy, with son Shanthanu Bhagyaraj facing accusations of forgery and opportunism after releasing what appeared to be earlier letters signed by the late filmmaker, addressed to his fans.

The posts, which included two letters written on Bhagyaraj’s personal letterhead and bearing his signature, were shared in the days following the filmmaker’s death on June 27.

The first letter opens with one of Bhagyaraj’s personal mottos, “The greatest joy in happiness is making others happy,” and is addressed directly to his fans, thanking them for being the great joy of his life and describing them as precious as his own eyes. Crucially, the letter asks his fans to transfer their love and loyalty to his son Shanthanu going forward, writing, “In my place, I want you, as fans, to stand by Shanthanu’s success.” It closes with a reflection on the body’s impermanence, ending with the lines, “This body has no expiry date marked on it. One day it will enter the fire, or the earth, or the cosmos.”

The second letter reads as a farewell from beyond, thanking those who showed up for his final journey with love and tears, and ending with the lines, “From now on, I will live on. In good cinema, in good screenplays, in good dialogues, in good human dignities, as a spirit.”

The letters, in themselves, are moving and entirely in keeping with Bhagyaraj’s literary voice, which was always warm, philosophical and gently self-aware. The reaction online, however, was sharply divided. A section of users questioned the authenticity and intent behind the release. Some users questioned the timing and how Bhagyaraj’s daughter is not mentioned in the documents.

Others went further, suggesting the content may have been AI-generated rather than genuinely written by Bhagyaraj himself, fabricating content in the filmmaker’s known writing style without any actual pre-written material from him, though no evidence to support that specific claim has been put forward. Another netizen tweeted, “I’m glad that Shanthanu hasn’t considered reanimating his dad through AI to recommend him for new movie chances. Why can’t people let the dead rest for even a day?”

A section of users on Tamil social media accused Shanthanu of being behind the letters’ timing and release, suggesting he was leveraging the emotional weight of his father’s legacy to boost his own standing as an actor, an accusation that lands with particular sharpness given that Shanthanu’s career has remained closely tied to his father’s name since his debut in Sakkarakatti in 2008. Several of his films were made under or in collaboration with Bhagyaraj’s banner, and at least one, Koditta Idangalai Nirappuga in 2017, was made specifically as a tribute to Bhagyaraj by director Parthiban, with Shanthanu cast in the lead because of that connection.