Raghuvaran (December 11, 1958 – March
19, 2008) was an Indian actor who predominantly acted in movies made in
South Indian languages.
He became famous for his portrayal of
villain roles and character roles in Tamil movies. He has acted in more
than 150 movies in Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi films.
The actor had carved a niche for himself with his special style and
voice modulation and was considered a natural actor.
He was noted
for his role as the protagonist of a Tamil soap opera, "Oru Manidhanin
Kadhai" (One Man's Story), about a well-to-do man who becomes an
alcoholic and faces the consequences. He got critical acclaims for his
role as Father Alphonse in Malayalam movie 'Daivathinte Vikruthikal',
directed by Lenin Rajendran and based on a book by M Mukundan with the
same title.
He was Born in Kollengode as part of the Chakkungal
Tharavad in Palakkad district, Kerala. He was the Grand Son of Mr. N.
Radha Krishna Menon and Late. Smt. Satyavathy Amma and son of Mr
Velayudhan and Mrs.Kasturi
He was married to Malayalam actress Rohini and has a son with her, Sai Rishivaran. The couple divorced later.
Raghuvaran's success as an actor was setback by his addiction to alcohol and drugs. He was in and out of rehabilitation clinics.
Raghuvaran
began as a stage actor and debuted in the 1982 Tamil film Elavathu
Manithan (Seventh Man).He bagged several state and Filmfare Awards for
his outstanding performances in Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu film
industries. His role as a father of an Autistic child in Mani Ratnam's
Anjali brought him critical acclaim. Another one of his most admired
roles came in the movie Basha, in which he played the role of an of an
underground don, Marc Antony who opposes Rajnikanth. This veteran actor
died suddenly in 2008 June.
Raghuvaran died on March 19th,2008 in
Chennai due what is stated to be a cardiac arrest. It is also stated
that he had a history of liver disease due to excessive use liquor over
a very long period of time. He died in sleep. A irony is few days
before his death he acted in a similar scene in now released movie
Yaaradi Nee Mohini staring dhanush& Nayantara in which he is shown
dying in sleep. A number of popular actors including Joseph Vijay,
Vikram, Ajith, Vijayakanth, Surya Sivakumar, Manorama, Sarathkumar,
Radhika, Kushboo, Manirathnam, Suhasini, Oorvashi, Sathyaraj and Vivek
went to his home, and paid homage. His ex-wife Rohini and his son Rishi
were also present.