Greater Chennai Corporation recently renamed a road in Virugambakkam as Chinna Kalaivanar Vivek Street to honour Tamil actor-comedian Vivekh who died last year.
The renamed road is one that the late comedian resided on. It falls under Zone 10, Ward 128 of the Kodambakkam zone.
Vivekh died on April 17, 2021. He succumbed to cardiac arrest. While there were speculations that his death was connected to his vaccination for Covid-19, since he had taken the vaccine a few days before his demise, a Union government report issued later refuted the rumours that his death was caused due to the vaccination.
In a career spanning over three decades, Vivekh primarily worked as a comedian in the Tamil film industry. A strong advocate of planting trees, and an ardent follower of former Indian President APJ Abdul Kalaam, the late actor’s comedies were packed with social messages and thought-provoking one-liners. In his comedy tracks, he talked about caste oppression, women’s rights, and the folly of superstitions, all while not being preachy. He worked alongside the likes of Rajinikanth, Vijay, Vikram, Suriya, Madhava, and Dhanush, and was set to collaborate with Kamal Haasan for the first time in the upcoming Shankar-directorial Indian 2.
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To commemorate the first death anniversary of Vivekh, a government order was issued by the Municipal Administration and Water Supply Department Secretary Shiv Das Meena to rename Padmavathi Nagar Main Road in Virugambakkam, where the late actor lived along with his family, as ‘Chinna Kalaivanar Vivek Street’ in his honour.
The order was passed based on a request that the residents of the street and Nadigar Sangam Vice-Chairperson Poochi S Murugan had placed before the City Corporation Commissioner.
The order stated that although the state government had set aside the exercise of renaming roads and streets for a while, a resolution was passed to rename the Virugambakkam street as Chinna Kalaivanar Vivek Street based on popular demand.