Tamil actor buys Sundar Pichai's ancestral house in Chennai

Google CEO Sundar Pichai's childhood home in the city of Chennai was recently sold to a Tamil actor, prompting an emotional response from Pichai's father RS Pichai.

The house, located in Ashok Nagar, was purchased by C Manikandan - a small-time actor and producer who is also into real estate - for an undisclosed sum.

"When Sundar's father handed over the documents, he became emotional for a few minutes since this was his first property," Manikandan told The Hindu.


The actor was all praise for Pichai's parents, impressed by their humility. According to media reports, the actor said that Pichai's mother herself made filter coffee for him and his father offered him the documents at the very first meeting.

"Since Sundar Pichai made India proud, it is exciting to buy the house where he was born," Manikandan told reporters, adding that he had plans to build a villa there.

Manikandan has built and delivered around 300 homes under his brand Chellappas Builders in different parts of the city.

Sundar Pichai was born and brought up in Chennai, and apparently lived in this house till the age of 20. He left the city in 1989 to study Metallurgical Engineering at IIT Kharagpur.

When Manikandan heard that the property was for sale, he immediately decided to buy it. He, however, had to wait for R.S. Pichai's return from the US.

The real estate operator also mentioned that Pichai's father was determined not to use the Google CEO's name to speed up the registration or transfer process.

“In fact, his father waited for hours at the registration office, paid all necessary taxes before handing over the documents to me,” he added.