Ravichandran

Biography:  V. Ravichandran is an actor, director, producer, music director, and lyricist in the Kannada film industry. He is the son of film producer N. Veeraswamy. As producer, Ravichandran continues to run his father's production house, Sri Eswari Productions. He is popularly known as "Crazy Star" Ravichandran, a title fans have prefixed to his name. Ravichandran shot into instant fame when Prema Loka, which he produced, directed, and starred in the lead role in, became one of the landmark films in Kannada film history. It was made with a budget of 1 crore rupees, the most expensive Kannada film of its time. It starred Juhi Chawla as the female lead. Premaloka also established Hamsalekha, who would team up with Ravichandran for a long period and give consistently good music for the next 10 years. Premaloka broke several records and defined much of Ravichandran's later filmmaking. It set the stage for lavish productions in the Kannada film industry and inspired an entire generation of directors, most notably Upendra, who credited Ravichandran for taking the Kannada film industry to the next level. Ravichandran has had a checkered career spanning more than two decades as an actor, director, producer, music director, and, lately, lyricist. As the leading actor, Ravichandran's initial movies were box-office failures characterised by weak storylines and poor direction. His major commercial success as the leading actor prior to Premaloka was Naanu Nanna Hendthi, a comedy starring Urvashi in the female lead role. Post-Premaloka, Ravichandran starred in several blockbusters, most notably Ranadheera , Anjada Gandu, Yuddha Kaanda, Ramachari, Halli Meshtru, Gadibidi Ganda, Annayya, Sipayi, Yaare Neenu Cheluve, Mangalyam Tantunanena, and Preethsod Tappa. It should be noted that most of his movies were remakes of Tamil or Telugu movies, and Ravichandran attained notoriety as the remake king. Ravichandran is considered a mediocre actor but a talented technician. However, his role as a mentally challenged adult in Ramachari won him critical praise. He has stuck to mostly stereotypical roles: police officer (Shanti Kranti and Abhimanyu), lover boy (Prema Loka, Anjada Gandu, and Preethsod Tappa), pop singer (Yuga Purusha and Gadibidi Ganda), rustic (Sipayi, Halli Meshtru, and Malla), and lawyer (Yudha Kaanda). He continues to act and has a few projects awaiting release. Ravichandran's first major success as a director was Premaloka . He is known as a non-conformist and has created his own style of filmmaking. Most of his movies show very little influence from other directors, except Premaloka, which contains traces of Grease 2. Notable aspects of his filmmaking include a curious combination of close-ups, abrupt fast cuts, and innovative camera angles. He is renowned in the Kannada film industry for his understanding of the technical aspects of cinema. His films are lavishly staged and distinguished by superior production values in cinematography, sound, lighting, and special effects. A distinct feature of his direction is his innovative shooting of songs. Ravichandran has often directed song-picturization in movies in elaborate and richly-mounted settings. Ravichandran initially acted in and directed movies produced by his own banner, Eswari Productions. After Premaloka, he accepted acting offers from other producers. He has worked with leading directors of the Kannada film industry such as S.V. Rajendra Singh Babu and D. Rajendra Babu. His association with D. Rajendra Babu is very successful, resulting in several hits, including Naanu Nanna Henthi, Annayya, Ramachari, Yaare Neenu Cheluve, and Sriramachandra. Ravichandran is close friends with producer Rockline Venkatesh, with whom he worked on several movies, notably Yaare Neenu Cheluve, Preethsod Thappa, and Ondagona Baa. His spat with Rajendra Singh Babu was rumoured to be a hot-headed one. Singh Babu would emphasise that the director is supreme, but Ravichandran would urge that the director still needs a hero to convey his theme. Ravichandran is known to be a perfectionist, and artists recall him shooting a single scene or sequence until it is perfect. He is known to have shot entire sequences again after the first cuts of the movie failed to satisfy him. However, after a lean patch in the late 1990s, Ravichandran is said to have made amends for this and churned out quickies. A major complaint his fans have is that, in the last decade, most of his movies have been remakes of Telugu or Tamil hit movies. He seems to have lost his originality after Premaloka. Ravichandran is known to produce very expensive movies in an industry that has a limited market. Premaloka was the costliest movie of its time. Although his later films were comparatively less expensive, their budgets exceeded those of other Kannada films by several lakhs of rupees. In 1991, Ravichandran released Shanti Kranti , the costliest movie ever to be made in Kannada until then. Considered his magnum opus, the film was shot over four years with a budget of 40 million rupees and was simultaneously made in Kannada, Telugu, and Tamil. Shanti Kranti turned out to be a huge failure at the box office. Ravichandran also released Ramachari the same year. Made with a modest budget, Ramachari , ironically, became one of the biggest blockbusters of the year. After a string of flops and a public spat with longtime associate music director Hamsalekha, Ravichandran took over as music director and has given a few fine tunes in Ekangi and Aham premisei. But critics generally consider him an average music director. Ravichandran is generally credited with introducing a culture of producing big-budget films in Kannada. His other notable contribution includes introducing an innovative approach to direction and filmmaking. Ravichandran is also credited with "discovering" the talented Hamsalekha. Together, they worked on over 50 films and created several popular numbers. Music was one of Ravichandran's strengths. However, the duo split up after Preethsod Thappa, only to reunite for Ondagona Baa, a commercial and musical failure. The Lahari recording company received a large dividend from Premaloka's music rights. His association with Hamsalekha led to chart-buster songs in almost every movie. Inspired by this, Ravichandran started his own audio company, Eswari Audio. He would take an even greater risk for his brother's debut movie, " Aham Premaasmi ." He bypassed the entire music industry and sold the cassettes through cable operators to beat piracy. In spite of many businessmen creating new avenues of sales in Kannada films, Ravichandran showed that there are still many innovations left to be explored.