Raghuvaran

Raghuvaran was an Indian actor who predominantly acted in movies made in South India.

He became famous for his portrayal of villain and character roles in Tamil movies. He has acted in more than 150 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 stellar 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. He received critical acclaim for his role as Father Alphonse in the Malayalam movie 'Daivathinte Vikruthikal', directed by Lenin Rajendran and based on a book by M. Mukundan with the same title.

Personal Life

He was Born in Kollengode in Palakkad district, Kerala. He was the grandson 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.

Career

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 films. 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 from the movie Basha, in which he played the role of a don, Mark Antony who opposes Rajnikanth.

Death

Raghuvaran died on March 19th, 2008, in Chennai as a result of cardiac arrest. It is also said that he had a history of liver disease due to excessive consumption of liquor over a long period of time. He died in sleep. A few days before his death, he acted out a similar scene in Yaaradi Nee Mohini staring Dhanush & Nayantara, in which he is shown dying in his 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.