V. S. Raghavan

V S Raghavan (18 February 1925 – 24 January 2015) was an Indian actor, who has acted both in Tamil films as well as television. He started his career as a dramatist and stage actor and went on to act as a character actor in films, starting with Vairamali (1954) and over 1000 films in all. He has also acted in numerous television series.[1][2] He died on 24 January 2015.[3]

Not to be confused with V. S. Raghavan (director).

V. S. Raghavan
Born(1925-02-18)February 18, 1925
Vembakkam, Madras Presidency, British India
Died24 January 2015(2015-01-24) (aged 90)
Chennai, India
NationalityIndian
OccupationDramatist, Actor
Years active1954 - 2015

Early life and education

Born in Vembakkam village, near Singaperumal Koil near Chengleput, where he spent early part of his childhood, later for three years he lived in Mylapore neighbourhood of Chennai, and studied at the P S High School. Subsequently, he studied at St Columbus Higher Secondary School, Chengalpattu, followed by two years in Madras Christian College, Chennai. However, as he finished his school the death of his father prompted his mother to shift from native village to move to Vellala Street in Purasawalkam, Chennai where his elder sister lived.[1]

Career

V S Raghavan started his career in 1942, as a sub-editor for Malathi magazine run by humourist Thumilan (N Ramaswamy), and after it closed he joined a printing press. At the press a group of fellow employees used to do amateur stage plays, which led him to act in some plays including some Hindi plays. Earlier, he had acted in YMIA Fine Arts' theatre group's play Vairamalai, written by Thottakara Viswanathan, staged at the YMCA, and when the production adapted the stage play into a film, he played the same role in it, thus made his film début in 1954. In the same year, he made his debut as a dramatist and started the Indian National Artists (INA) with four other friends like Malli, Vadiraj, Nataraj and K Balachander. The INA staged plays at reputed Sabhas in Chennai.[1][4]

Veteran director K Balachander who has won several accolades for memorable films was part of his troupe where he acted and wrote scripts. The INA closed down a decade later and Raghavan entered the cinema world and acted in supporting roles. He has acted in around 1000 films and has also featured in many MGR films. He is also very well known for his role in the TV serial Anni created by K Balachander.[2]

Partial filmography

TV serials

Short films
  • Alaivarisai (2013)

References
  1. Memories of Madras: The golden age of theatre The Hindu, 8 December 2010.
  2. "A virtuoso recalls". The Hindu. 7 October 2010.
  3. "Veteran actor V S Raghavan dead". 24 January 2015.
  4. "Still has a passion for challenging roles". The Hindu. 13 June 2004.
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