Raghuvaran

Raghuvaran (10 December 1958 – 19 March 2008) was an Indian actor who predominantly acted in movies made in South India. He became famous for his portrayal of villain character roles in Tamil films. 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.

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 and Kasthuri.[2] When his father moved his hotel business from Mathur[disambiguation needed] 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.[2]

He discontinued his Bachelor of Arts in History from Coimbatore (Govt. Arts College) to pursue a career in acting.[3] He landed a minor role in the Kannada film Swapna Thingalgal. He began acting in small minor roles in Telugu and Kannada films including a two-minute scene as a rapist in Udaya.

Following his beginnings on the stage, and a Diploma in acting from Adyar Film 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).[4] 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.