V. Ravichandran, is an Indian film producer and distributor in

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

, India. He is the founder and owner of the production and distribution company, Aascar Films Pvt. Ltd. Ravichandran started his venture in 1998 with the co-production of ''

Kadhalukku Mariyadhai ''Kadhalukku Mariyadhai'' () is a 1997 Indian Tamil-language musical romantic drama film directed by Fazil. It is the Tamil remake of Fazil's own Malayalam film ''Aniyathipraavu'' (1997). The film stars Vijay and Shalini (reprising her rol ...

''. He went on to produce many large-scale Tamil language films and distribute a number of English films across South India.

Early life

He was born in

Vellore Vellore (English: ), also spelt as Velur (), is a city and the administrative headquarters of Vellore district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Palar River in the northeastern part of Tamil Nadu and is separ ...

and completed his graduation from

Voorhees College Voorhees University (formerly Voorhes College) is a private historically black university in Denmark, South Carolina. It is affiliated with the Episcopal Church and accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. History In ...

, Vellore. His brothers own smaller production companies, Celebrity Pictures and Viswas Pictures. He started distributing films since he was 16 years old as he was the son of a leading distributor in Vellore.

Career

Prior to making his name as a film producer, Ravichandran had been a leading film distributor in Tamil cinema since the late 1970s and gained attention through the distribution of

Jackie Chan Fang Shilong (born 7 April 1954), known professionally in English as Jackie Chan and in Chinese as Cheng Long ( zh, c=成龍, j=Sing4 Lung4; "becoming the dragon"), is a Hong Kong actor, filmmaker, martial artist, and stuntman known for ...

films across

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

. Ravichandran made his debut as a producer in cinema through Fazil's romantic drama film ''

'' (1997), which he co-produced with

Sangili Murugan Sangili Murugan, is an Indian actor, screenwriter and producer. During the 1980s and 1990s, he was an actor doing negative and supporting roles in Tamil films. He has also worked as production controller in a number of films. His birth name is M ...

. Though Fazil offered him the opportunity to produce the Malayalam version of the film first, Ravichandran refused because he wanted his first venture to be in Tamil. The film went on to become one of the most successful films of the year, while his second venture,

Vikraman Vikraman is an Indian film director primarily working in Tamil cinema. Career 1990–1994 He worked as an assistant to actor and director R. Parthiban in '' Puthiya Pathai'' (1989), which was the latter's debut film as a director and an act ...

's family drama ''

Vaanathaippola ''Vaanathaippola'' () is a 2000 Indian Tamil-language drama film written and directed by Vikraman. The film stars Vijayakanth in dual role. The supporting cast include Meena, Prabhu Deva, Livingston, Kausalya and Anju Aravind. Produced by Venu R ...

'' (2000), received similar commercial success. His third and fourth films,

Ezhil Ezhilmaaran known as Ezhil is an Indian film director who works in the Tamil film industry. He has won 2 Tamil Nadu state awards. He made his directorial debut with the 1999 romantic film ''Thulladha Manamum Thullum'' starring Vijay and Si ...

's family drama '' Poovellam Un Vasam'' (2001) and Sasi's romantic film ''

Roja Koottam Roja may refer to: * ''Roja'' (film), a 1992 Tamil-language film by director Mani Ratnam * ''Roja'' (soundtrack), a soundtrack album from the film * Roja Selvamani, an Indian actress-turned politician * ''Roja'' (Tamil TV series), a 2018 soap o ...

'' (2002), were also highly profitable ventures. In 2012, Ravichandran and director Shankar began work on the romantic thriller film, '' I'' (2015), featuring Vikram in the lead role. En route to becoming one of the most expensive Tamil films of all time, ''I'' took three years to complete, with over ten thousand people involved in the making of the film. The team also subsequently held a grand audio launch event with Arnold Schwarzenegger being brought in as chief guest for the event, and ''I'' released shortly after, becoming a profitable venture.

In the media

Ravichandran actively avoids being photographed and prefers to remain incognito at the promotional events of his films. In an interview with ''Behindwoods.com'', he revealed that there were no photographers at his wedding and that in family photos, only his wife would appear with his children.

Filmography

Production

Distribution

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ravichandran, Viswanathan Film producers from Chennai Tamil film producers Living people People from Vellore Year of birth missing (living people) Producers who won the Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment National Film Award Voorhees College