Raghuvaran — Why The Spot He Occupied In Tamil Cinema Is Still Vacant?

(This piece was published in Film Companion)

My oldest memories of the lanky actor with a distinctive voice, Raghuvaran (1958– 2008), are from the films Makkal en pakkam (1987), Poo vizhi Vasalile (1987) and Puriyaatha pudhir (1990) of the ‘I know.. I know’-fame. In the film Raghuvaran is a sadistic, doubting husband and in a situation he thinks he has caught his wife off-guard. Now, for the film maker there are very direct and good options here. The easiest of them is to make the husband lecture about our value system, get violent towards the wife or even kill the guy. But that is ordinary writing for actors with normal talents. But with Raghuvaran the entire scene running for about two minutes gets elevated with just two words — ‘I know..’ It is said while a musician communicates feelings through the instrument he is playing, a dancer through body movement, the ‘instrument’ that an actor is using is himself (Making Movies by Sidney Lumet). Raghuvaran demonstrated that. 

In Samsaram adhu minsaram (1986), Raghuvaran as Chidambaram the eldest son, was pitted against the veteran Visu playing Ammaiappan Mudaliar, the patriarch of a typical Indian middle class family. The film had a host of characters. But the story conflicts were created around the Raghuvaran-Visu duo. It was an equal fight and Raghuvaran shone bright. By then the actor was a bankable character artist though his career was leaning more towards the villain end of the spectrum.

Mani Ratnam’s Anjali (1990) a family-kids’ drama surrounding a special child drew from the vast reservoirs of acting skills that Raghuvaran possessed. In the film as Sekhar, a nice guy who handles the emotional pain and love that the entry and exit of a special child with a terminal illness brings about in a family, Raghuvaran gave his trademark performance with much grace. But around the time, the actor’s image as a dangerous villain got cemented. Thanks to Ram Gopal Varma’s cult film Shiva (Telugu, 1989).

In the 90s though there were occasional gems like Aahaa..! (1998) that brought out the versatility of the actor, the decade marked the clear shift from Raghuvaran the character artist to Raghuvaran — the undisputed lord of the villains in Kollywood. It was also the time when the seasoned Nasser had peaked as the most hated villain in Kollywood with films like Thevar magan (1992) and Kuruthipunal (1995); and he not only started venturing into more varied roles like in Avvai Shanmugi, Bombay, Iruvar and Jeans but also turned a film director with Avatharam.  

During the decade Raghuvaran featured as the bad guy in big ticket films like Ratchagan, Shankar’s films like Kadhalan and Mudhalvan, and a few Rajnikanth films like Baasha, Arunachalam and Muthu. But he was not your regular villain that smokes a pipe, rapes hero’s sister, mouths a catchy phrase and finally gets killed by the hero. He was a villain who set the boundary limits of the hero; a villain who built the hero; and a villain who created a world for the heroes to rule. 

In the Superstar’s iconic Baasha (1995), as Mark Antony the actor catapulted Rajni’s stardom to an altogether new plane. The film renewed Rajnikanth’s cult status easily by 3–4 years till Padayappa almost came close to doing it again. Baasha was Manik Baasha only because Antony…Mark Antony was Raghuvaran.

Mudhalvan (1999) saw Raghuvaran play, unarguably, his best villain role. While Baasha was no less, but being a Rajni film it had its own constraints. Ultimately people poured into the theatres for Rajni alone. But with a lead artist like Arjun, and a fairy tale-type script that placed the corrupt and cunning chief minister Aranganathan central to its plot — Mudhalvan must have offered Raghuvaran a feast. A full meals to quench his hunger to perform strong characters; a challenge to harness his acting potential to the fullest. Raghuvaran (then about 40 years of age), with intelligent voice modulation and body language modifications, performed as a much older political leader. Again, an actor using his body as an instrument. The controversial interview in the film that sets the entire story in motion is among the most cherished scenes in Tamil films. And if you look the scene closely there was also Arjun as Pugazhendi. You tend to miss him— simply dazzled and overwhelmed by Raghuvaran-CM. (Not to take away credit from Pugazhendi, the newly-promoted journalist who was doing his first VIP interview.)

The 2000s saw the fading of Raghuvaran as an actor. The number of movies he did dwindled. The roles he bagged too were not the ones that he would have really wanted to do. Many roles did not need him either. But there were occasional exceptions like Run and Yaaradi nee Mohini (April 2008), released within a month after his untimely demise. During the decade Raghuvaran also did passable roles in a few mega budget films. But he always left his mark. Do you know Raghuvaran has acted in Rajnikanth’s Sivaji? It is also glaring that there was no (notable?) collaboration of Kamal Hassan with Raghuvaran. Plainly unfortunate for Tamil cinema; for us. 

Around this time Kollywood witnessed the meteoric rise of another gifted actor Prakash Raj. He seemed to be the new Raghuvaran on the block; a versatile actor capable of doing roles as varied as a legendary political leader (Iruvar) or a dreaded village goon (Ghilli) or a possessive father (Abhiyum naanum) with equal deft. Prakash Raj also sparkled in comedy films like Vasool Raja MBBS. 

But the position of a villain with exceptional craftsmanship and a unique voice is still vacant…

(Special thanks to Team FC editorial)