Actor Dileep, who portrayed supporting roles in Tamil films in the 1980s, passed away at a hospital in Mysore on Friday morning after a prolonged illness.
He made his debut as an actor in director K. Balachander's film ‘Varumaiyin Niram Sivappu' in which he shared screen space with actor Kamal Haasan as an unemployed youth.
Dileep played supporting roles in as the lead character's friend in many movies including ‘Kilijangal' and ‘Thoongadey Thambi Thoongadey'. Some of his memorable performances include those in director Visu's movies — ‘Samsaram Adhu Minsaram' and ‘Penmani Aval Kanmani'.
However, he had not acted in Tamil movies for the past 15 years. His last Tamil film was ‘Valli', according to sources in the film industry.
Dileep was admitted to the hospital a fortnight ago for kidney ailment and passed away in the early hours of Friday. He is survived by his wife, daughter Bhavya and son Mourya.
