Viswanathan Ravichandran (also known as Venu Ravichandran) is an Indian film producer and film distributor in
Chennai
Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...
, India. He is the founder and owner of the production and distribution company, Aascar Films Pvt. Ltd, previously known as Oscar Films. Ravichandran started his venture in 1998 with the co-production of ''
Kadhalukku Mariyadhai''. 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 ( ), also spelled Velur, is a sprawling 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 and surrounded by the Javadi Hills in the northeastern ...
and completed his graduation from
Voorhees College, 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 Chan Kong-sang; 7 April 1954), known professionally as Jackie Chan,; is a Hong Kong actor and filmmaker, known for his slapstick, acrobatic fighting style, comic timing, and innovative stunts, which he typically perf ...
films across
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...
.
Ravichandran made his debut as a producer in cinema through
Fazil's romantic drama film ''
Kadhalukku Mariyadhai'' (1997), which he co-produced with
Sangili Murugan. 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's family drama ''
Vaanathaippola'' (2000), received similar commercial success.
His third and fourth films,
Ezhil's family drama ''
Poovellam Un Vasam'' (2001) and
Sasi's romantic film ''
Roja Koottam'' (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
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, businessman, former politician, and former professional bodybuilder, known for his roles in high-profile action films. Governorship of 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 University