Veteran Tamil director C.V. Sridhar passed away Monday after a brief illness in a private hospital, family sources said. He was 76.

His body is kept at his residence here and the last rites will take place Tuesday, family sources said.

Sridhar entered filmdom in the 1950s as a dialogue writer - his play "Raththa Pasam" was converted into a movie.

He debuted as a director with "Kalyaana Parisu" ("Marriage Gift") - the film was commercially and critically a success and since then he never looked back.

In 1961, Sridhar floated production house Chitralaya that launched several new faces including Jayalalitha, who became a rage in south Indian films and also went on to become Tamil Nadu's chief minister.

Some of his hit movies include "Nenjil Or Aalayam" (remade in Hindi as "Dil Ek Mandir") and "Kaadilikka Neramillai" (made as "Pyaar Kiye Jaa" in Hindi).

Sridhar also has the distinction of having introduced Tamil films to shooting locales in Kashmir with Gemini Ganeshan-Vyjayanthimala starrer "Then Nilavu".

Sridhar's films were a combination of emotion, humour, drama, comedy and soulful music.

Apart from Tamil, Sridhar directed movies in Kannada and Telugu as well as Hindi.