Raghuvaran

Raghuvaran
Born	Raghuvaran Velayudhan Nair (1958-12-11)11 December 1958 Kollengode, Kerala, India
Died	19 March 2008(2008-03-19) (aged 49) Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Occupation	Film actor
Height	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Spouse(s)	Rohini (m. 1996; div. 2004)
Children	Rishi Varan (b.1998)
Parent(s)	Chunkamandathu V. Velayudhan S. R. Kasthuri

Raghuvaran (11 December 1958 – 19 March 2008) was an Indian actor who predominantly acted in movies made in South India. He has acted in more than 200 Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, 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 Chittur taluk, Palakkad district, Kerala. He was the grandson of Mr. N. Radhakrishna Menon and son of Chunkamannathu Velayudhan Nair and Kasthuri Chakkungal.^[3] When his father moved his hotel business from Mathur to Coimbatore and 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 small 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 supporting actor, Nassar. He was spotted and cast as the lead actor in Ezhavathu Manithan which was his biggest role to date.

He married to actress Rohini in 1996 and they have a son Rishi Varan born in 1998. The couple later got 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 one 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 as hero like Oru Odai Nadhiyagirathu and Nee Thodumbothu released, but did n't became a huge success. 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.

Death

Raghuvaran died on 19 March 2008.^[1] cause of the death has been disclosed as organ failure caused by excessive alcohol consumption^[8]

His death occurred during the filming stages of several films, including the Tamil film, Kanthaswamy wherein Raghuvaran's performances were left unused and were replaced with Ashish Vidyarthi, which resulted in the film's delayed release.

His last film was Aatadista, a Telugu film starring Nithin.

Filmography

References

External links

• Raghuvaran on IMDb