Raghuvaran


Radhakrishnan Velayuthan Raghuvaran was an Indian actor who predominantly acted in movies made in South India. He has acted in more than 200 Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi films. According to the Hindustan Times, "The actor had carved a niche for himself with his special style and voice modulation."
He played the protagonist of a Tamil soap opera, Oru Manidhanin Kadhai, about a well-to-do man who becomes an alcoholic. He received critical acclaim for his role as Father Alphonso in the Malayalam movie Daivathinte Vikruthikal, directed by Lenin Rajendran and based on M. Mukundan's novel of the same name.
Raghuvaran's 6 songs, composed and sung by him, was officially released by actor Rajinikanth and the music album was received by actress Rohini and Raghuvaran's son Rishi Varan.

Personal life

He was born as the eldest among four children in 1958 at Kollengode in Palakkad district in Kerala. He was the grandson of Mr. N. Radhakrishna Nair and son of Chunkamannathu Velayuthan Nair and Kasthuri Chakkungal. When his father moved his hotel business from Mathur to Coimbatore, the family shifted to Coimbatore. He had his primary education from St. Ann's Matric. Higher Secondary School, Coimbatore. He also learned piano from Trinity College London.
He discontinued his Bachelor of Arts in History from Coimbatore to pursue a career in acting. He landed a minor role in the Kannada film Swapna Thingalgal. He began acting in minor roles in Telugu and Kannada films.
From 1979 to 1983, he was part of an acting drama troupe in Chennai, "Chennai Kings", which also included the Kannada/Tamil actor, Nassar. He was spotted and cast as the lead actor in Ezhavathu Manithan, which was his biggest role to date.
He married Rohini in 1996 and their son Rishi Varan was born in 1998. The couple later separated and divorced in 2004.

Career

Following his beginnings on the stage, and a diploma in acting from M.G.R. Government Film and Television Training Institute in Chennai, Raghuvaran approached many Kollywood studios aiming for performance oriented roles and finally got selected as hero. The offbeat film named Ezhavathu Manithan, directed by Hariharan won many awards, but not many offers for him. A few more films followed with him as hero, like Oru Odai Nadhiyagirathu and Nee Thodumbothu released, but didn't become huge successes. But the villain role in Silk Silk Silk was noticed and the film's success opened the gate of offers for him. The villain act continued in films like Kutravaaligal, Mr. Bharath, Mandhira Punnagai and Oorkavalan. He appeared as hero as well as supporting actor in between releases as well. The major ones are Mudivalla Arambam and Samsaram Adhu Minsaram.

In a leading role

In the mid 1980s, Raghuvaran did many films as hero and most of them did good business as well. The films Michael Raj, Megam Karuththirukku, Kootu Puzhukkal and Kavithai Paada Neramillai helped to stabilize his career. The lawyer in Kaliyugam, the police officer in Thaimel Aanai, the rowdy with a golden heart in Kai Naattu, the honest Medical student turned Goonda in Kuttravali and the common man in En Vazhi Thani Vazhi helped Raghuvaran's market value as hero to reach greater heights. But his desire to try all types of roles, like supporting actor as well as villain simultaneously halted the progress as hero, even though he played hero roles in Vyooham, Kavacham and Anjali later. His supporting roles in Annanagar Mudhal Theru and Siva were well received too.

Experimentation

Raghuvaran was pitted against Dilip Kumar in his Bollywood debut Izzatdaar and his popularity further soared at the national level with Ram Gopal Varma' s gangster flick Shiva, where he played the dreaded gangster Bhawani. Other Bollywood films include Rakshak opposite Sunil Shetty, Lal Baadshah opposite Amitabh Bachchan, Hitler opposite Mithun Chakraborty and Grahan along with Jackie Shroff, where he replaced a busy Nana Patekar in 2001.
In a career span lasting for more than 26 years, Raghuvaran performed each role with his trademark mannerisms, often stealing the thunder from more established stars and even heroes. His magnetic baritone voice was an advantage and he modulated it to suit his variety of roles. He also set his own style of mannerisms and brought a distinct dialogue delivery and even changed his gait in many films. All this dedication won him more fans and helped his popularity soar ever higher.
He has received several state and Filmfare Awards for his performances in Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu films. He began his career as a supporting actor in a number of films in Tamil including Mani Rathnam's Anjali as the father of an autistic child. He later played villains in Baasha as Mark Anthony, Mudhalvan as Aranganathan, Shiva and Muthu as Ilaimaran. He later returned to supporting roles – sometimes as a father or as a mentor in films such as Alai, Yaaradi Nee Mohini, Thirumalai and Bala.

Death

Raghuvaran died on 19 March 2008. The cause of death was due to lower sugar levels. His death occurred during the filming stages of several films, including Kanthaswamy, wherein Raghuvaran's portions were reshot with Ashish Vidyarthi, which resulted in the film's delayed release. His posthumous film, Aatadista, released shortly after his death.

Filmography

1982–89

YearFilmRoleLanguageNotes
1982KakkaMalayalamAnti Hero
1982Ezhavathu ManithanAnandTamilHero
1982Marumagale VazhgaDr. SaravananTamilSupporting
1983Oru Odai NadhiyagirathuTamilHero
1983RugmaMalayalamSupporting
1983Vasanthame VarugaSuriyanarayananTamilSupporting
1983Silk Silk SilkTamilVillain
1984Nee ThodumbothuTamilHero
1984Mudivalla ArambamTamilHero
1985KutravaaligalTamilVillain
1985Engirunthalum VazhgaTamilHero
1986Mr. BharathMichaelTamilVillain
1986Samsaram Adhu MinsaramChidamabaramTamilSupporting
1986Meendum PallaviTamilHero
1986Mandhira PunnagaiDaniel MirandaTamilVillain
1987Poovizhi VasalileAnandTamilVillain
1987Makkal En PakkamTamilSupporting
1987Michael RajTamilHero
1987Pasivadi PranamVenuTeluguVillain
1987Megam KaruththirukkuTamilSupporting
1987Nyayaniki SankelluTeluguVillain
1987Kootu PuzhukkalTamilHero
1987Kavithai Paada NeramillaiTamilHero
1987OorkavalanRajaduraiTamilVillain
1987ManithanTamilVillain
1987Ivargal Varungala ThoongalTamilSupporting
1987Arul Tharum AyyappanTamilSupporting
1988En Bommukutty AmmavukkuAlexTamilSupporting
1988KaliyugamTamilHero
1988Thaimel AanaiVinodTamilHero
1988Kai NaattuTamilHero
1988KuttravaliTamilHero
1988Koil Mani OsaiTamilVillain
1988Irandil OndruTamilVillain
1988En Vazhi Thani VazhiTamilHero
1988Annanagar Mudhal TheruTamilSupporting
1988Kanchana SeetaTeluguSupporting
1989SivaJohnTamilSupporting
1989RudranetraBlack CobraTeluguVillain
1989LankeshwaruduTeluguVillain
1989Rettai Kuzhal ThuppakiTamilVillain
1989Raja Chinna RojaRaghuTamilVillain
1989ShivaBhavaniTeluguVillain
1989Idhu Unga KudumbamTamilHero
1989DhanushkodiMalayalamSupporting

1990–99

YearFilmRoleLanguageNotes
1990VyoohamTony LeousMalayalamHero
1990Puriyaadha PudhirChakravarthiTamilVillain
1990IzzatdaarIndrajeet SabharwalHindiVillain
1990AnjaliShekarTamilHero
1990ThiyaguTamilHero
1990ShivaBhavaniHindiVillain
1990Pagalil PournamiTamilVillain
1991ChaitanyaRaanaTeluguVillain
1991Pudhiya RaagamRaghuramanTamilVillain
1991Daivathinte VikrithikalAlphonsoMalayalamHero
1991Kizhakkan PathroseMalayalamVillain
1992LathiDawoodTeluguSupporting
1992KavachamRaviMalayalamHero
1992Soorya ManasamMalayalamVillain
1992UyarnthavanTamilSupporting
1993Addeham Enna IddehamMalayalamVillain
1993Konjum KiliTamilSupporting
1993Dhool ParakuthuTamilHero
1994PaasamalargalTamilSupporting
1994KadhalanMallikarjunaTamilVillain
1995BaashhaMark AntonyTamilVillain
1995Peter ScottLeo FernandesMalayalamSupporting
1995Manathile Oru PaattuJamesTamilGuest appearance
Supporting
1995MaanthrikamAbdul RahimanMalayalamSupporting
1995WitnessTamilSupporting
1995MounamMr. XTeluguVillain
1995KolangalBairavanTamilVillain
1995MuthuDevanTamilVillain
1995Thotta ChinungiGopalTamilHero
1996Anaganaga Oka RojuTeluguSupporting
1996RakshakRaghuHindiVillain
1996Circle InspectorKannadaVillain
1996SelvaVaratharajanTamilVillain
1996Take It Easy UrvashiJayaTamilVillain
1997ArunachalamVishwanathTamilVillain
1997Love TodayChandrasekarTamilSupporting
1997UllaasamG. K.TamilSupporting
1997KalavidaKannadaVillain
1997AbhimanyuMaasilamaniTamilVillain
1997Nerukku NerRaghuTamilSupporting
1997AahaaRaghuTamilSupporting
1997RatchaganEaswarTamilVillain
1998Aahaa...!RaghuramTeluguSupporting
1998SuswagathamDr. Chandra ShekarTeluguSupporting
1998Jai HindKannadaVillain
1998GovernmentKannadaVillain
1998Thulli Thirintha KaalamChidambaramTamilSupporting
1998HitlerHindiVillain
1998IniyavaleRamanathanTamilSupporting
1998PoonthottamPanneerselvamTamilVillain
1998Nilaave VaaSivaTamilSupporting
1999Suriya PaarvaiJayanthTamilVillain
1999En Swasa KaatrePaneerTamilSupporting
1999Endrendrum KadhalShekarTamilSupporting
1999Lal BaadshahVikram SinghHindiVillain
1999OruvanKrishna PrasadTamilVillain
1999AmarkalamTulasi DasTamilSupporting
1999Anaganaga Oka AmmayiBhavani PrasadTeluguSupporting
1999Pooparika VarugiromRanganathanTamilSupporting
1999MudhalvanAranganathanTamilVillain
Winner, Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Villain
1999IraniyanAandeTamilVillain
1999PrathyarthaRakeshKannadaVillain

2000–09