CHENNAI: Popular Tamil novelist Indira Soundararajan, who wrote the story, screenplay, and dialogues for the epic Tamil thriller television serial 'Marmadesam', passed away on Sunday at his residence in Madurai, sources close to the family said.

He was 65 years old.

Soundararajan was renowned for creating supernatural and mystical themes, as reflected in works such as 'Marmadesam', 'Iraiyuthir Kaadu, and 'Thangakkadu'. His novel 'En Peyar Ranganayaki' won a Tamil Nadu government award.

G Asokan, a "pocket novel" publisher who released Soundararajan’s 'Rudra Veenai', told PTI that the author had fallen in the bathroom at his Madurai residence on Sunday and was pronounced dead at a hospital. 'Rudra Veenai' was among Soundararajan's bestsellers.

Soundararajan, a prolific author of novels and short stories, also worked as a screenwriter in Tamil films and was a noted orator on spirituality.

He was associated with films such as 'Sringaram' (2007), an art film, and 'Anandhapurathu Veedu' (2010), a horror mystery.

Out of affection for his mother, the writer prefixed her name, Indira, to his own.