Heartbreaking news surfaced this Sunday, June 7: Malayalam actor Salim Kumar’s passing. The National Award-winning actor passed away battling health problems after he was rushed to the hospital on Saturday. Following his death, the actor was cremated with full state honors at his residence in North Paravur on Sunday.
However, his death quickly made headlines with videos of Salim’s son Chandi Salim Kumar expressing his frustration over the media and paps entering the family’s personal space during the last rites. In the viral video from the funeral, Chandu is seen requesting paps and cameramen to move back and give the family the space to grieve.
Soon, the video caught the attention of the actor and director Prithviraj Sukumaran’s wife and film producer Supriya Menon, who reacted on her Instagram stories, “Yet again a family trying to say bye to their loved one, a moment that is fraught with heartbreaking grief & pain.
But here again there is a collection of cameras and mikes jostling to get this final goodbye in close up, like vultures flying closer & closer to their prey. The son shouting to get some space, asking them to move back, to cry in peace. What have we become? This voyeuristic urge to consume everything in real time, abandoning all sense of propriety & decorum. Let people grieve in peace; they have enough pain as it is. There ought to be some self restraint & course correction. This isn’t journalism, it’s voyeurism! Lurid & Vulgar.”
