Chennai:K V Anand, noted Tamil film director and cinematographer died here early on Friday due to cardiac arrest, sources close to his family said.

"He passed away in a hospital at 3 AM due to a cardiac arrest, he was 54 years old," Riaz K Ahmed, a film industry publicist and movie buff said.

Anand began his career as a cinematographer in Malayalam movie 'Thenmavin Kombath' in 1994 and following a decade of work as a cinematographer he made his directorial debut in Tamil flick 'Kana Kanden' (2005). 'Thenmavin Kombath' bagged the national award (Best Cinematography) for Anand.

Veteran actor and Makkal Needhi Maiam chief Kamal Haasan said Anand began his life as a photo journalist and established himself as a distinguished cinematographer-film director due to his relentless efforts and initiatives.

"His passing away is a big loss to the film industry. My condolences," Haasan said.

"Anand's colour sense is unique and his camera worked magic on screen. In Sivaji, he made a new attempt to portray Rajinikanth in a different light (in 'Oru Koodai Sunlight' song) which was a huge hit among Rajini fans," film industry tracker, M Bharat Kumar said.

'Ko,' 'Ayan,' 'Maatraan,' and 'Anegan' and 'Kavan' and 'Kaappan' were Anand's popular directorial efforts.

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Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.

In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.

Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.

He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.

Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.

He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.

Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.

He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.