Tribute to Raghuvaran

With the death of Raghuvaran, Indian cinema has lost a stylish, dynamic actor who could portray any kind of character in his own unique, distinct style. Raghuvaran has always been about his personality and style. He has always had an acting style rooted in reality as opposed to the loud acting propogated by Tamil cinema of the 80’s which witnessed his debut. He is one actor who has never been conscious of an image and has played a wide gamut of roles- hero, villain, hero’s friend, elder brother, father, you name it, you have it! In the course of his 30 year old career, he has been part of more than a 100 films with many of them standing out for his magnificent performance. Be it the hapless father in Anjali or En Bommukutti Ammavukku, the professional killer in Kaadhalan, the doctor in Shivaji, the magician in Daivathinte Vikruthikal, the professor in Sivappathigaram, the loving husband in Thirumalai, the twin faced brother in Aaha or the straight of story book villain in Baadshah- Raghuvaran has left an indelible imprint of his own on all the characters he played.

He has never had a good personal life- addiction to drugs and drinks, a failed marriage with actress Rohini and the legal battles over the custody of his only son only made things worse for the actor. The 60 year old actor had not been doing well for quite sometime and finally it was time for him to meet the inevitable leaving behind a handful of characters in all four languages of South India that will remain in public memory for a very long period of time! While I mourn the loss of a great actor, I also pray for his departed soul to rest in peace…