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28 March 2024

Financial woes pushed Kerala filmmaker and family to suicide

Published
By VM Sathish

A Dubai-based Indian film producer, Santhosh Kumar was found dead along with his wife and daughter at their flat on Tuesday by Dubai Police.

The bodies were found lying in the bedroom in a decomposed state.

Dubai Police found a suicide note written by the deceased man claiming responsiblity for the death of his wife and daughter. The man allegedly stabbed his wife and daughter to death and slashed his wrist to end his own life.

The family was going through financial problems, sources close to the family told Emirates 24|7. Santhosh Kumar had sold off property in India in order to get out of the financial mess.

A family source said that “there was no news about the family from last Wednesday".

A close relative of Santhosh Kumar, who came down from Singapore to oversee the repatriation of the bodies was not aware of the family’s financial woes as the family had kept everything bottled inside.

“He was facing serious financial problems due to the failure of his business in the Gulf region. He had invested a lot of money in films and his finances were strained after he lost money on the Malayalam film 'Pramani', said a family member.

"Santhosh had sold some property in India and was preparing to come out of the liquidity problem by selling off another property, in which he was one of the owners,” added the family member.

“Selling the family property was his last resort to come out of the financial crisis and he could have taken the extreme step, when he did not get support from other family members," he added.

He went on to reveal that “the suicide note contained information about the whereabouts of his wife and daughter's passports. It seems Santhosh was not sure whether his wife and kid were already dead, and in case they had not died, he wanted to ensure that their passports were safe.”

Dubai Police is treating the case as murder-suicide, the family source claimed. Although there has been no confirmation from the Dubai Police yet.

The South Indian film producer and businessman had allegedly been depressed for some time due to financial issues that he was facing. He was the owner of a maintenance firm that had 35 employees.

Due to poor financial condition of the company, the number of employees at Exclusive General Maintenance Company in Karama had gone down to mere six. An employee of the company told Emirates 24|7 that a lot of staff from Bangladesh had to leave as the firm had not been doing well and their salaries were also not paid on time.

Santhosh Kumar also owned a film distribution company, Souparnika Films, and his firm had  distributed some movies in Trivandrum, Kerala. 

Santhosh was well connected with the Malayalam film industry as he had worked as associate producer in 'Neelathamara', and also as a distributer for 'Seethakalyanam', 'Neelathamara'  and 'Pramani'.

Indian social workers have raised an alarm about families that do not share their problems with the close relatives or community members and end up taking drastic steps.

“I am aware of four such Indian families who are facing problems. Such people should discuss their problems with relatives or friends instead of ending their lives,” said an Indian social worker.

Kerala filmmaker Santhosh Kumar, wife, daughter found dead in Dubai flat

Three members of an Indian family who were not responding to calls on their mobile phones since last Thursday, July 10, have been found dead in their apartment in Dubai.

The deceased have been identified as Santhosh Kumar, a filmmaker from South India, his wife Manjula and their daughter Gouri.

A  family friend filed a complaint with Dubai Police on Tuesday morning, July 15. Police officials broke into the 11th floor apartment and found the bodies.

“Since Santhosh Kumar was not answering his phone, his relatives from Singapore contacted a family friend to inquire about their whereabouts.

“There was no smell coming from any flats and only this morning a Dubai Police team broke into the flat and found the bodies,” said a neighbour, who lives on the same floor of the Mega Mart Building opposite NMC Hospital, Al Nahda, Dubai.

Santhosh, a businessman in the UAE, had been involved in the direction and co-production of some popular Malayalam movies including ‘Madampy’, starring Mohanlal, and re-makes of classics like ‘Neelathamara’ and ‘Rethinirvetham’.  

“I never knew that he was a famous film director or producer. I often saw him taking his daughter to school. I am shocked,” said the Indian neighbour of the deceased.