The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Raghuvaran will be missed

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Friday, Mar 21, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Raghuvaran will be missed

Suresh Krishnamoorthy

Raghuvaran

HYDERABAD: For avid Telugu filmgoers, the very mention of Raghuvaran would result in an instant recall of the movies ‘Anjali’ and then ‘Siva’.

They showed the lean and lanky frame as a quintessential combination of villain and character artiste. ‘Anjali’ showcased him as an immensely loveable person for tiny tots and ‘Siva’ showed him as a suave actor.

Telugu tinseltown would remember him as an actor whose dubbed films in Telugu were as much a success as the Tamil originals, from ‘Anjali’ to ‘Run’ where he essayed the role of hero Madhavan’s brother-in-law and ‘Chirunama’ (‘Mugavari’ in Tamil) where he acted as the lead star Ajith’s brother.

Hall of fame

‘Suswagatham’, where Raghuvaran appeared as the father of hero Pavan Kalyan, put him firmly in tinseltown’s hall of fame. His USP was that from very early in his career in Telugu films, he made the effort to dub his own voice. His characteristic pause between every word made his dialogue delivery take on a very entertaining note. His last remembered film was ‘Evadaithe Naakenti’ with Dr. Rajasekhar in the lead.

While shooting for ‘Anjali’ he made it a habit to carry pockets-full of chocolates. And then Raghuvaran was one of the very first artistes to have his custom-made, air-conditioned Traveller and always invited co-stars to chill out during breaks.

Stickler for punctuality

More than that, he will forever be remembered by scribes who met him away from shootings. Such meets always ended up with the man opening up and proving to be a veritable treasure trove of information. In an industry where people are actually ‘notorious’ for delays Raghuvaran was one who was always punctual.

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Andhra Pradesh