Taxmen raid premises of top Tamil film personalities

CHENNAI: Income Tax officials Thursday raided the offices and premises of prominent Tamil film industry personalities, including leading comedian N Santhanam.

As of 3:40 pm, the raids were still on. The search and seizure operation began early morning and will continue through the day.

Other film personalities whose houses were raided include KE Gnanavelraja, whose production and distribution house Studio Green has produced critically-acclaimed movies such as ‘Paruthiveeran’ among others. The offices and houses of producers AM Rathnam and RB Choudary were also raided.

Santhanam, known for his slapstick humour and puns, is the most sought-after comedian in the Tamil film industry. Recently, he started his own production house, Handmade Films, which had a winning start with ‘Kanna Laddu Thinna Aasaiya’ earlier this year.

A spokesperson of the Income Tax department confirmed the raids to ET. He said, “We will be able to give you more details only after the raids are over.”