Raghuvaran

He has received several state and Filmfare Awards for his performances in Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu films. He began his career as a supporting actor in a number of films in Tamil including Mani Rathnam's Anjali as the father of an autistic child. He later played villains in Baasha as Mark Anthony, Mudhalvan as Aranganathan (corrupt Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu), Shiva and Muthu as Ilaimaran. He later returned to supporting roles – sometimes as a father or as a mentor in films such as Alai, Yaaradi Nee Mohini, Thirumalai and Bala.

Raghuvaran died on 19 March 2008. The cause of death was due to lower sugar levels. His death occurred during the filming stages of several films, including Kanthaswamy (2009), wherein Raghuvaran's portions were reshot with Ashish Vidyarthi, which resulted in the film's delayed release. His posthumous film, Aatadista, released shortly after his death.

He married Rohini in 1996 and their son Rishi Varan was born in 1998. The couple later separated and divorced in 2004.

Raghuvaran was pitted against Dilip Kumar in his Bollywood debut Izzatdaar and his popularity further soared at the national level with Ram Gopal Varma' s gangster flick Shiva, where he played the dreaded gangster Bhawani. Other Bollywood films include Rakshak opposite Sunil Shetty (1996), Lal Baadshah opposite Amitabh Bachchan (1999), Hitler opposite Mithun Chakraborty (1998) and Grahan along with Jackie Shroff, where he replaced a busy Nana Patekar in 2001.

In the mid 1980s, Raghuvaran did many films as hero and most of them did good business as well. The films Michael Raj, Megam Karuththirukku, Kootu Puzhukkal and Kavithai Paada Neramillai helped to stabilize his career. The lawyer in Kaliyugam, the police officer in Thaimel Aanai, the rowdy with a golden heart in Kai Naattu, the honest Medical student turned Goonda in Kuttravali and the common man in En Vazhi Thani Vazhi helped Raghuvaran's market value as hero to reach greater heights. But his desire to try all types of roles, like supporting actor as well as villain simultaneously halted the progress as hero, even though he played hero roles in Vyooham, Kavacham and Anjali later. His supporting roles in Annanagar Mudhal Theru and Siva were well received too.

From 1979 to 1983, he was part of an acting drama troupe in Chennai, "Chennai Kings", which also included the Kannada/Tamil actor, Nassar. He was spotted and cast as the lead actor in Ezhavathu Manithan, which was his biggest role to date.

Radhakrishnan Velayuthan 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 Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi films. According to the Hindustan Times, "The actor had carved a niche for himself with his special style and voice modulation."

He was born as the eldest among four children in 1958 at Kollengode in Chittur taluk, Palakkad district in Kerala. He was the grandson of Mr. N. Radhakrishna Nair and son of Chunkamannathu Velayuthan Nair and Kasthuri Chakkungal. When his father moved his hotel business from Mathur to Coimbatore, the 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.