It was a normal day of work for a stuntman shooting for a Malayalam film in Wayanad. His scene was to jump about ten feet into a pond. He had done such stunts many times before, so it did not seem dangerous. But local people had warned that the water was dirty and mixed with chemicals from a nearby factory.

The team went ahead with the shoot. The stuntman jumped into the pond and finished the scene safely. What he did not know was that this jump would change his life forever.

What happened afterwards?

Without proper facilities to clean up after the scene, the stuntman travelled home with traces of the contaminated water still on his body. At first, it was a minor irritation—a small cut on his head. But within weeks, his hair began falling out in clumps. Soon, he lost all hair from his scalp, eyebrows, and body.

He sought every possible treatment—Ayurvedic and allopathic alike—but nothing worked. What was once thick, well-groomed hair was gone forever. The mirror became a painful reminder of what he had lost. He wrapped a cloth around his head for comfort and continued doing fight scenes to make ends meet.

How did the mishap change his career?

What seemed like a personal tragedy unexpectedly opened new doors. The actor’s striking bald look and coarse voice caught the attention of filmmaker Bala, who offered him a villain’s role in Naan Kadavul (2009). That performance made him instantly recognisable, paving the way for more roles.

The once-struggling stuntman had reinvented himself as a performer loved for both his comic timing and villainous flair. His strong screen presence and rough voice made him popular among audiences.

He went on to act in many successful films in Tamil and Malayalam, including Mohanlal’s Thandavam and Odiyan.

Who was this actor?

The man who turned a tragic stunt into a shining film career is none other than Tamil actor A Rajendran (fondly called Mottai Rajendran). His bald head and bold screen presence, once a painful reminder of an accident, have now become his greatest identity in South Indian cinema.