He was a karate guru, an archery expert, an actor, a painter and sculptor, a weird person who had performed incredible feats of daredevilry. Shihan Hussaini’s death from blood cancer at the age of 60 on March 24, 2025, in Chennai, shocked thousands of his fans and disciples.

Hussaini receives a memento from RC Madras South.

I would like to tell readers about something perhaps not widely known – Hussaini’s flair as an orator. Members of the Rotary Club of Madras South recall their meeting with him in July 2019, when he gave us one of the most extraordinary talks we had heard.

 

We expected something offbeat, but what hit us was a cyclone. He didn’t need a mike, his booming voice would have blasted its sound system. It was an oratorical display of energy, positivity, drama, satire, hyperbole. And action! He got the audience to clap, to sing, to answer rhetorical questions. He had brought biggish gleaming equipment – a large steel arrow apparatus weighing 50 kg, a big winding bow, and a bulls-eye target complex. He came with a retinue of five archery students led by the strikingly tall and stunning Kamana. She and another student, Mahima, gave the audience an effortless archery exercise of power and grace.

Hussaini said his ambition was to get a Tamil Nadu archer to win an Olympic gold medal. He was confident that either Kamana or Mahima or both could do it.

Death-defying acts

Modesty wasn’t one of Hussaini’s vices. His topic was archery, but he told us about the power of the human spirit, which his own death-defying acts had demonstrated.

For example, he once got himself doused with 140 litres of petrol; then Walter Davaram himself, DG of Police and an admirer of Hussaini, set him aflame. (Earlier, the Commissioner of Police had actually refused permission for the event,) Hussaini became a ball of fire for half a minute before he stepped out, almost un-injured. The prestigious Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun frontpaged the event with a photograph.

Hussaini could smash a rock of ice with his forehead. The first time he attempted this, he failed. It was his head that bled, the ice remained intact. So he made the task tougher – several rocks of ice, not one, and the forehead triumphed! He got four cobras to attack and bite him in front of an audience of a few thousands.

On another occasion, he let 101 cars ride over his hands,. Result: half a dozen fractures. With the same fractured hands, he cracked several hundred tiles and bricks. Blood poured from his hands. He then did a portrait in blood of then Chief Minister Jayalalitha. “This was not an act of sycophancy,” says Hussaini, “just my tribute to her courageous spirit” .The CM met him the next day and urged him to desist from such dangerous acts.

 

Hussaini getting ready to be crucified.

But in 2015, Jayalalitha was in jail, and Hussaini came up with another feat – self-crucifixion – perhaps to coax the Gods to help his idol. He got himself hung on a cross, and disciples pounded 6-inch nails to his hands and feet. A medical team from the Ramachandra Hospital found that he was fairly normal after the ordeal. But his crazy act of self-flagellation seemed to have pleased the Gods. Jayalalitha was not merely set free, she was CM again!

Hussaini became a household name, but there was tragedy at home. He had wooed and won Anita, a Hindu girl and a lecturer in psychology. He had married her despite opposition on religious grounds from both his family and Anita’s. After marriage, she felt let down by his all-consuming passion for karate and archery and adventure. “I used to leave the house early in the morning before she was up, and would return late after she had retired for the night”, recalled Hussaini. After seven years of married life, she urged him to go easy on his passions and spend time at home. “We must settle and begin a family,” she said. “Give me just two or three more years”, he said. She was upset. She said she would leave Chennai to pursue a PhD. But he soon got a divorce notice from her. He was heart-broken but didn’t contest the divorce. Anita was in tears at the divorce court. “We remained friends,” said Hussaini. Anita joined in the homage and mourning for Hussaini after his death. “My family now consists of my dog Peanut, four parrots and a cat,” he said. He had a brother and two sisters, both of whom were abroad, in Australia and the US respectively.

He was the founder and general secretary of the Archery Association of Tamil Nadu. He trained more than 7,000 disciples in archery, some of whom won national and international recognition. He promoted the art in 32 districts of Tamil Nadu, and sent several to Switzerland and Korea for advanced training.

His career evolution and karate

Hussaini was born in Madurai. His father was a professor of history and deeply interested in sports. Hussaini graduated in zoology from the American College, Madurai, later acquired master’s degrees in social work, sculpture and painting. Visiting the US on a Rotary programme, he expressed interest in learning karate, and was advised that Japan was the home of karate. He visited Japan 13 times to learn and master this martial art. He was trained personally by the founder of Taekwondo, Gen Choi Hong Hi, and the chief of World Isshinryu, Soke Kichiro Shimabuku. He achieved the rare feat of an advanced 5th degree black belt both in Taekwondo and Karate at the same time,

In time, Hussaini became synonymous with karate in India. He set up 554 karate schools in seven countries, trained more than 300,000 students, created 2300 black belt instructors and several champions.

The Actor

During the 1980s, Hussaini was a much-in-demand actor. He made his acting debut in K. Balachander’s romantic drama Punnagai Mannan, where he played a Sri Lankan dancer. Thereby hangs a tale. Hussaini tried several times to contact Balachandar for an acting role but couldn’t get to meet him. He then called Balachandar on the phone, and said he was a sculptor, he wanted to do a sculpture of the great director. Balachandar asked Hussaini to meet him. They had several sessions together. Incredibly, Hussaini had zero experience as sculptor then, but he took practical lessons from a famous sculptor – one each before every session with Balachandar! True to his penchant for succeeding in the impossible, he managed a sculpture that pleased Balachandar. Hussaini then phoned the director and old him “Here’s a confession. I have no experience as a sculptor at all. I merely acted like one. If you think I did a decent job as actor, give me a role.” Balachandar was amazed at Hussaini’s audacity and gave him a role in Punnagai Mannan.

Hussaini later acted in Rajinikanth’s Velaikaran (1987) and in films starring Vijayakanth, Karthik, Sarath Kumar and Khushboo. He was often the villain, a powerful bad man and a karate expert to boot. But in 1997, he played the hero in the film My India.

His last on-screen appearance was in Badri, where he played Vijay’s fitness coach. He decided to stop acting mainly because his disciples did not like to see him get bashed up by heroes – whom he could have beaten to pulp if he wanted to. Balachandar told him “Don’t take it to heart. In movies, it’s the hero who has to succeed.” But Hussaini decided to move on.

The end

Hussaini’s death-defying adventures had led to several crises in the past – such as a stroke, a knee replacement surgery, a few other surgeries. He had shaken them off. But in March this year, he was diagnosed with blood cancer – specifically, with a rare condition called aplastic anemia. He was coughing and vomiting blood. He would need two bottles of blood and an infusion of platelets every day to stay alive, he said, and this too would be possible only for a few days. A bone marrow transplant could help only people below 40. But he was positive as ever and spoke with remarkable clarity and vigour in “his last video”. “A warrior like myself can’t be tamed because death looms”, he asserted. He asked “Isn’t it a blessing for someone to know he is going to die, so that he can make arrangements necessary?”. He thanked deputy chief minister Udayanidhi Stalin for a donation of Rs 5 lakhs. He appealed to Udayanidhi and his father Stalin to allot some land for archery training so that his disciples could pursue their talent and win for Tamil Nadu a prestigious Olympic gold medal. He pointed out that the place where his students had practised for many years – the MGR-Janaki college in Adyar – was no longer available.

His loyal students Kamana and Mahima were with him on the night of March 25. They helped feed him. Doctors told the girls to leave the ICU, they would be called when necessary.

They received a call at 1 a.m. Through the glass window, they saw a team of nurses trying to administer CPR one by one to the dying warrior, and being frustrated by the lack of response. Fifteen minutes later, a doctor told them, “Sorry, we couldn’t save him”.

Hussaini’s body was taken to his office in Kalakshetra Colony, where his fans paid homage till the evening. It was then taken to Madurai. A huge crowd took part in the funeral procession,

The man who embodied raw power, strength and energy, who wowed one and all with his expertise in karate and archery, died at the relatively young age of 60. One can be sure that in Heaven, he will entertain the Gods, and perhaps challenge Arjuna to an archery contest.