Raghuvaran: Difference between revisions

Raghuvaran
Raghuvaran
Born	Raghuvaran Velayutham; 11 December 1958; Kollengode, Kerala, India
Died	19 March 2008 (aged 49); Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Nationality	Indian
Occupation	Film actor
Spouse	Rohini (m. 1996; div. 2004)
Children	Rishivaran (b.1998)
Parent(s)	Velayutham Nair; Kasthuri

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Raghuvaran Velayutham (11 December 1958 – 19 March 2008) was an Indian actor who predominantly acted in films 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."^[1]

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.^[2]

Personal life

He was born as the eldest among four children in 1958^[1] at Kollengode in Palakkad district in Kerala. He was the grandson of Mr. N. Radhakrishnan Nair and son of Chunkamannathu N. R. Velayutham Nair and Kasthuri Chakkungal.^[3] 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.^[3]

He discontinued his Bachelor of Arts in History from Coimbatore (Govt. Arts College) to pursue a career in acting.^[4] 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.^[1]

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 (Seventh Man),^[5] 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.^[6]

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 (1996), Lal Baadshah opposite Amitabh Bachchan (1999), Hitler opposite Mithun Chakraborty (1998) 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 (corrupt Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu), 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.^[7]

Death

Raghuvaran died on 19 March 2008.^[1] The cause of death was due to organ failure because of excessive alcohol consumption.^[8] His death occurred during the filming stages of several films, including Kanthaswamy (2009),wherein Raghuvaran's portions were reshot with Ashish Vidyarthi, which resulted in the film's delayed release.Also , Yaaradi Nee Mohini(2009) continued filming with the story being changed to him dying in the movie too. His posthumous film, Aatadista, released shortly after his death.

Filmography

1982–89

Year	Film	Role	Language	Notes
1982	Kakka		Malayalam	Anti Hero
	Ezhavathu Manithan	Anand	Tamil	Hero
	Marumagale Vazhga	Dr. Saravanan	Tamil	Supporting
1983	Oru Odai Nadhiyagirathu		Tamil	Hero
	Rugma		Malayalam	Supporting
	Vasanthame Varuga	Suriyanarayanan	Tamil	Supporting
	Silk Silk Silk		Tamil	Villain
1984	Nee Thodumbothu		Tamil	Hero
1984	Mudivalla Arambam		Tamil	Hero
1985	Kutravaaligal		Tamil	Villain
1985	Engirunthalum Vazhga		Tamil	Hero
1986	Mr. Bharath	Michael	Tamil	Villain
	Samsaram Adhu Minsaram	Chidamabaram	Tamil	Supporting
	Meendum Pallavi		Tamil	Hero
	Mandhira Punnagai	Daniel Miranda	Tamil	Villain
1987	Poovizhi Vasalile	Anand	Tamil	Villain
	Makkal En Pakkam	Ramesh	Tamil	Supporting
	Michael Raj		Tamil	Hero
	Pasivadi Pranam	Venu	Telugu	Villain
	Megam Karuththirukku		Tamil	Supporting
	Nyayaniki Sankellu		Telugu	Villain
	Kootu Puzhukkal		Tamil	Hero
	Kavithai Paada Neramillai		Tamil	Hero
	Oorkavalan	Rajadurai	Tamil	Villain
	Manithan	Kumaravelu	Tamil	Villain
	Ivargal Varungala Thoongal		Tamil	Supporting
	Arul Tharum Ayyappan		Tamil	Supporting
1988	En Bommukutty Ammavukku	Alex	Tamil	Supporting
	Kaliyugam		Tamil	Hero
	Thaimel Aanai	Vinod	Tamil	Hero
	Kai Naattu		Tamil	Hero
	Kuttravali		Tamil	Hero
	Koil Mani Osai		Tamil	Villain
	Irandil Ondru		Tamil	Villain
	En Vazhi Thani Vazhi		Tamil	Hero
	Annanagar Mudhal Theru	Janardhanan	Tamil	Supporting
	Kanchana Seeta		Telugu	Supporting
1989	Siva	John	Tamil	Supporting
	Rudranetra	Black Cobra	Telugu	Villain
	Lankeshwarudu		Telugu	Villain
	Rettai Kuzhal Thuppaki		Tamil	Villain
	Raja Chinna Roja	Raghu	Tamil	Villain
	Shiva	Bhavani	Telugu	Villain
	Idhu Unga Kudumbam		Tamil	Hero
	Dhanushkodi		Malayalam	Supporting

1990–99

Year	Film	Role	Language	Notes
1990	Vyooham	Tony Leous	Malayalam	Hero
	Puriyaadha Pudhir	Chakravarthi	Tamil	Villain
	Izzatdaar	Indrajeet Sabharwal	Hindi	Villain
	Anjali	Shekar	Tamil	Hero
	Thiyagu	Thiyagu	Tamil	Hero
	Shiva	Bhavani	Hindi	Villain
	Pagalil Pournami		Tamil	Villain
1991	Chaitanya	Raana	Telugu	Villain
	Pudhiya Raagam	Raghuraman	Tamil	Villain
	Daivathinte Vikrithikal	Alphonso	Malayalam	Hero
	Kizhakkan Pathrose	Anthony	Malayalam	Villain
1992	Lathi	Dawood	Telugu	Supporting
	Kavacham	Ravi	Malayalam	Hero
	Soorya Manasam		Malayalam	Villain
	Asadhyulu	Dr. Pratap	Telugu	Supporting
	Uyarnthavan		Tamil	Supporting
1993	Addeham Enna Iddeham		Malayalam	Villain
	Konjum Kili		Tamil	Supporting
	Dhool Parakuthu		Tamil	Hero
1994	Paasamalargal		Tamil	Supporting
1994	Kadhalan	Mallikarjuna	Tamil	Villain
1995	Baashha	Mark Antony	Tamil	Villain
	Peter Scott	Leo Fernandes	Malayalam	Supporting
	Manathile Oru Paattu	James	Tamil	Guest appearance Supporting
	Maanthrikam	Abdul Rahiman	Malayalam	Supporting
	Witness		Tamil	Supporting
	Mounam	Mr. X	Telugu	Villain
	Kolangal	Bairavan	Tamil	Villain
	Muthu	Devan	Tamil	Villain
	Thotta Chinungi	Gopal	Tamil	Hero
1996	Anaganaga Oka Roju	Raghu	Telugu	Supporting
	Rakshak	Raghu	Hindi	Villain
	Circle Inspector		Kannada	Villain
	Selva	Varatharajan	Tamil	Villain
	Take It Easy Urvashi	Jaya	Tamil	Villain
1997	Arunachalam	Vishwanath	Tamil	Villain
	Love Today	Chandrasekar	Tamil	Supporting
	Ullaasam	G. K.	Tamil	Supporting
	Kalavida		Kannada	Villain
	Abhimanyu	Maasilamani	Tamil	Villain
	Nerukku Ner	Raghu	Tamil	Supporting
	Aahaa..!	Raghu	Tamil	Supporting
	Ratchagan	Easwar	Tamil	Villain
1998	Aahaa..!	Raghuram	Telugu	Supporting
	Suswagatham	Dr. Chandra Shekar	Telugu	Supporting
	Jai Hind		Kannada	Villain
	Government		Kannada	Villain
	Thulli Thirintha Kaalam	Chidambaram	Tamil	Supporting
	Hitler		Hindi	Villain
	Iniyavale	Ramanathan	Tamil	Supporting
	Poonthottam	Panneerselvam	Tamil	Villain
	Nilaave Vaa	Siva	Tamil	Supporting
1999	Suriya Paarvai	Jayanth	Tamil	Villain
	En Swasa Kaatre	Paneer	Tamil	Supporting
	Endrendrum Kadhal	Shekar	Tamil	Supporting
	Lal Baadshah	Vikram Singh	Hindi	Villain
	Oruvan	Krishna Prasad	Tamil	Villain
	Amarkalam	Tulasi Das	Tamil	Supporting
	Anaganaga Oka Ammayi	Bhavani Prasad	Telugu	Supporting
	Pooparika Varugirom	Ranganathan	Tamil	Supporting
	Mudhalvan	Aranganathan	Tamil	Villain Winner, Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Villain
	Iraniyan	Aande	Tamil	Villain
	Prathyartha	Rakesh	Kannada	Villain

2000–09

Year	Film	Role	Language	Notes
2000	Kannukkul Nilavu	Dr.Rajasekhar	Tamil	Supporting
	Good Luck	Chandra Mohan	Tamil	Supporting
	Sudhandhiram	Raghu	Tamil	Supporting
	Mugavaree	Shiva	Tamil	Supporting
	Vallarasu	DGP Jaganathan	Tamil	Supporting
	Kandukondain Kandukondain	Sowmya's Boss	Tamil	Supporting
	Pelli Sambandham		Telugu	Supporting
	Parthen Rasithen	Panneer	Tamil	Supporting
	Uyirile Kalanthathu	Raghuraman	Tamil	Supporting
	Azad	Deva	Telugu	Villain
2001	Grahan	Raghu Sinha	Hindi	Supporting
	Dosth	Raghu	Tamil	Villain
	Narasimha	Raana	Tamil	Supporting
	Star	Dhanushkodi	Tamil	Villain
	Majunu	Gajapathy	Tamil	Supporting
2002	Seema Simham	Visweswara Rao	Telugu	Supporting
	Red	Sethupathy	Tamil	Supporting
	Dhaya	Major Rudhraiya	Tamil	125th Film Supporting
	Roja Kootam	Ilango's father	Tamil	Supporting
	Run	Shiva's brother-in-law	Tamil	Supporting
	University	Tamilselvan	Tamil	Supporting
	Bobby	K. R.	Telugu	Supporting
	I Love You Da	Rajkishore	Tamil	Villain
	Bala	Jeyamani	Tamil	Supporting
	Kadhal Virus	Kavitha's father	Tamil	Supporting
2003	Naaga	Naaga's father	Telugu	Supporting
	Johnny	Ravishankar Damle	Telugu	Supporting
	Alaudin	Gangadhar	Tamil	Supporting
	Ullam		Tamil	Supporting Straight-to-DVD release
	Alai	Aathi's father	Tamil	Supporting
	Anjaneya	Venketeswaran	Tamil	Supporting
	Thirumalai	Artist	Tamil	Supporting
	Anbe Un Vasam	V. Rathinavel Pandian	Tamil	Supporting
	Kaiyodu Kai	Manickavasagam	Tamil	Supporting
2004	Jana	Jana's father	Tamil	Supporting
	Durgi	Jaydev	Kannada	Villain
	Naani	Scientist	Telugu	Supporting
	Arasatchi	Ashok Mehta	Tamil	Supporting
	Jananam	Udhaya Moorthy	Tamil	Supporting
	Mass	Satya	Telugu	Villain
2005	Sachein	Gowtham	Tamil	Supporting
2006	Sivappathigaram	Elango	Tamil	Supporting
2007	Deepavali	Dr. Devasaghayam	Tamil	Guest appearance / Supporting
	Evadaithe Nakenti	Bal Gangadhar	Telugu	Supporting
	Nalladhor Veenai		Tamil	150th Film / Supporting
	Sivaji	Chezhian	Tamil	Supporting
	Marudhamalai	Suryanarayanan	Tamil	Supporting
2008	Bheema	Periyavar	Tamil	Supporting
	Ashoka		Tamil	Supporting
	Thodakkam	Vanchinathan	Tamil	Supporting
	Pellikani Prasad		Telugu	Supporting
	Sila Nerangalil	Krishnan	Tamil	Villain
	Aatadista	Raghunath	Telugu	Supporting
	Yaaradi Nee Mohini	Vasu's father	Tamil	Supporting
	Ellam Avan Seyal	Jagadeeswaran	Tamil	Supporting
2009	Bank	Raghuvaran	Telugu	Villain
2009	Adada Enna Azhagu	Himself	Tamil	Cameo appearance / Supporting
2014	Poojai	Rathnaswamy, Vasu's father	Tamil	Cameo appearance / photo role
2019	Thipparaa Meesam	Mani's deceased father	Telugu	Cameo appearance / photo role

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Actor Raghuvaran passes away- Hindustan Times". Archived from the original on 12 December 2008.
^ "Did you know Raghuvaran was a musician? Rajinikanth launches late actor's music album". The News Minute. 3 February 2018. Archived from the original on 30 January 2019. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
^ ^a ^b http://cinidiary.com/people.php?pigsection=Actor&picata=1&no_of_displayed_rows=47&no_of_rows_page=10&sletter=^{[permanent dead link‍]}
^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 9 May 2017. Retrieved 9 October 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ "Gulf Times article". Archived from the original on 24 March 2008.
^ "Raghuvaran: a classy villain". 30 March 2008. Archived from the original on 15 March 2014. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
^ "Farewell, Raghuvaran!". 24 March 2008. Archived from the original on 3 August 2017. Retrieved 30 January 2017.
^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 17 October 2014. Retrieved 17 September 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

External links

Raghuvaran at IMDb

[hindustantimes.com-1] "Actor Raghuvaran passes away- Hindustan Times". Archived from the original on 12 December 2008.

[2] "Did you know Raghuvaran was a musician? Rajinikanth launches late actor's music album". The News Minute. 3 February 2018. Archived from the original on 30 January 2019. Retrieved 9 February 2018.

[cinidiary.com-3] ttp://cinidiary.com/people.php?pigsection=Actor&picata=1&no_of_displayed_rows=47&no_of_rows_page=10&sletter=^{[permanent dead link‍]}

[4] "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 9 May 2017. Retrieved 9 October 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[gulf-times.com-5] "Gulf Times article". Archived from the original on 24 March 2008.

[6] "Raghuvaran: a classy villain". 30 March 2008. Archived from the original on 15 March 2014. Retrieved 15 March 2014.

[7] "Farewell, Raghuvaran!". 24 March 2008. Archived from the original on 3 August 2017. Retrieved 30 January 2017.

[8] "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 17 October 2014. Retrieved 17 September 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

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@@ Line 16: / Line 16: @@
 | children           = Rishivaran (b.1998)
 | parents            = Velayutham Nair<br>Kasthuri
-| relatives          = [[Arjun Das]] (nephew)
+| relatives          =
 }}

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