Ravichandran (Kannada Actor)

Veeraswamy Ravichandran (born 30 May 1961), known mononymously as Ravichandran, is an Indian actor, director, producer, music director, lyricist and editor working predominantly in Kannada cinema. The son of film producer N. Veeraswamy, he continues to produce and distribute films under his father's production house, Sri Eswari Productions. He is popularly referred to as "Crazy Star" by the media and his fans.

Starting his acting career as a child artist in '' Kula Gowrava'' (1971), Ravichandran started early as a co-producer for films such as ''Khadeema Kallaru'' (1982) and ''Chakravyuha'' (1983) besides acting in supporting roles. His lead role films started with ''Premigala Saval'' (1984), '' Pralayanthaka'' (1984) and ''Swabhimana'' (1985). He got his career best breakthrough with the film ''Premaloka'' in 1987 for which he directed, produced and acted in the lead role. Since then, Ravichandran films are considered to be technically savvy and lavish in production. His subsequent films such as ''Ranadheera'' (1988), ''Anjada Gandu'' (1988), ''Yuddha Kanda'' (1989), ''Ramachaari'' (1991), '' Mane Devru'' (1993), ''Putnanja'' (1995), ''Sipayi'' (1996), ''Yaare Neenu Cheluve'' (1998), ''Preethsod Thappa'' (1998), ''Kanasugara'' (2001), ''Ekangi'' (2002), '' Malla'' (2004), ''Drishya'' (2014) among others have been successful at the box office and made him one of the most prominent personalities in Kannada cinema.

In 2002, for the film ''Ekangi'', Ravichandran won Best Director, Best Actor and Best Music director awards at the Karnataka State Film Awards. Besides he has won Special Jury Award for ''Shanti Kranti'' (1991). In addition to these, Ravichandran has been honored with Karnataka State Puttanna Kanagal Award for Lifetime Achievements, Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award – South, Kannada Rajyotsava Award on 2010, Udaya Film Award for Best Supporting Actor for ''Aham Premasmi'' (2005) and NTR National Award in 2013. He has been honored with Doctorate twice, from Bangalore University and CMR University, in his career.

Personal life

Ravichandran was born on 30 May 1961 in Bengaluru, Mysore State (now Karnataka), India to Tamil Mudaliyar N. Veeraswamy and Pattammal. His father is N. Veeraswamy was a producer of Kannada films. Ravichandran married Sumathi, on Valentine's Day; 14 February 1986. The couple has a daughter Geethanjali, two sons Manoranjan and Vikram. Manoranjan made his acting debut with '' Saheba'' (2017).

Career

1980-1990: Debut and early stardom

Ravichandran made his first on screen appearance as child actor in ''Dhoomakethu'' and ''Kula Gourava'' (1971) - both starring Dr. Rajkumar, the latter also being his father's first film as an independent producer. He played the younger role of Rajkumar in the film. Later in 1982, at 20, he became an independent producer with the film ''Prema Mathsara'' under "Ravi Cine Creations" banner. Following this, he began to act as well as co-produce along with his father for the films such as ''Khadeema Kallaru'' (1982), ''Chakravyuha'' (1983) and its Hindi remake '' Inquilaab'' (1984) starring Amitabh Bachchan and Sridevi in lead roles. While ''Chakravyuha'' turned out to be commercially successful, its Hindi remake was an average grosser. This was followed by '' Pralayanthaka'' for which he acted in the lead role for the first time besides co-producing. In 1985, Ravichandran ventured into Tamil cinema by producing the Sivaji Ganesan, Rajinikanth starrer '' Padikkathavan''. This was a remake of Hindi film ''Khud-Daar'' (1982). He continued to enact and co-produce films such as ''Savira Sullu'' and ''Naanu Nanna Hendthi'' through which his long association with director D. Rajendra Babu started. Alongside, he also featured as second lead in films such as ''Pithamaha'' and ''Swabhimana''. In 1986, he starred in Tamil film, '' Poi Mugangal'' based on the novel ''Kakitha Changiligal'' (transl. Paper chains) by writer Sujatha. He was credited as Rakesh in order not to confuse the audience with the other Tamil actor, Ravichandran.

The year 1987 proved to be biggest breakthrough for Ravichandran with his debut directorial film, ''Premaloka''. The film achieved a cult-status years after its release and is considered to be one of the milestone successes in Kannada cinema. The film became the highest grossing Kannada film of the year. Besides directing, producing and scripting, Ravichandran enacted in the lead role along with Bollywood actress-model Juhi Chawla, who delivered her first hit in her career. The film's music by Hamsalekha was highly acclaimed and the audio cassettes amounting to 35 Lakhs, a record high, were sold by Lahari Audio company. The film also marked the decades long association of Ravichandran with music director Hamsalekha. The film was simultaneously shot in Tamil as ''Paruva Ragam'' and released at the same time.

In 1988, Ravichandran appeared in Rajachandra's ensemble drama ''Brahma Vishnu Maheshwara'' alongside Anant Nag and Ambarish where he played the role of Lawyer Narayan. This was followed by two blockbuster hits ''Ranadheera'' and ''Anjada Gandu''. While the former, a remake of Subhash Ghai's hit film ''Hero'', was a silver jubilee hit with a theatrical run of 25 weeks and was declared a ''Blockbuster'' at the box office and recorded 108 days of full-house shows in a theatre, the latter film was a remake of 1984 Tamil film ''Thambikku Entha Ooru'' and was declared blockbuster hit. Both the films had Ravichandran pairing up with actress Khushbu who made her debut in Kannada cinema. This was followed by back-to-back successes with ''Yuddha Kaanda'' and '' Yuga Purusha'', both in 1989. The same year he reunited with Juhi Chawla and directed the film ''Kindari Jogi'' which could not replicate the success of ''Premaloka''.

1991-2000: Career expansion and successful collaborations

Throughout the 1990s, Ravichandran expanded his career horizons by collaborating with different directors and most of the films released in this decade had musical score by Hamsalekha. He worked with leading directors such as P. Vasu, Rajendra Singh Babu, Om Sai Prakash and D. Rajendra Babu. His association with D. Rajendra Babu is very successful, resulting in several hits, including ''Naanu Nanna Hendthi'' (1985), ''Ramachaari'' (1991), ''Sriramachandra'' (1992), '' Annayya'' (1993) and ''Yaare Neenu Cheluve'' (1998).

In 1991, Ravichandran's ambitious pan-Indian film, ''Shanti Kranti'' (1991) was released which was in the making since 1988. He cast Juhi Chawla for the third time after ''Premaloka'' and ''Kindari Jogi'' in the opposite lead role. The film was simultaneously shot in Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu languages. While Rajinikanth played the lead in the Hindi and Tamil versions, Nagarjuna was the lead in Telugu version. Made at a budget of Rs.10 crore, it was the most expensive Indian film till then. Upon its release, the film was panned by critics and was declared as a disaster at the box office, earning only Rs.8 crore worldwide. This loss made a huge impact on Ravichandran and he went bankrupt. To make up for this huge loss, he began to act in films directed by others such as ''Ramachaari'' (1991), ''Halli Meshtru'' (1992), ''Chikkejamanru'' (1992), '' Gadibidi Ganda'' (1993), '' Annayya'' (1993).

He returned to direction with films '' Mane Devru'' (1993), '' Chinna'' (1994), ''Putnanja'' (1995), ''Sipayi'' (1996), ''Kalavida'' (1997), ''Preethsod Thappa'' (1998) and found success again. For ''Sipayi'' he roped in Telugu actor Chiranjeevi in the parallel lead role. Most of the films released during this decade were the remakes of successful Tamil, Telugu and Hindi films. Throughout the 1990s, Ravichandran paired up with actresses like Meena, Gouthami, Madhoo, Sukanya, Bhanupriya, Roja, Ramya Krishna, Yamuna, Kasthuri, Heera, Nagma and Shilpa Shetty, who made their debut in Kannada cinema.

Ravichandran and Hamsalekha collaboration exceeded over 20 films in the 1990s. The success of ''Premaloka'' paved the way for this collaboration and throughout the 90s until ''Preethsod Thappa'' (1998), their bonding was considered to be strong. However, they fell apart in 1999 over creative differences and Ravichandran himself started composing music for his films. The end of their long-standing partnership proved to be unsuccessful for both of them. In 1999, Ravichandran scored music, besides acting, for films such as '' Naanu Nanna Hendthiru'', ''Sneha'', '' O Premave''and '' Chora Chittha Chora''. In the year 2000, he directed and appeared in ''O Nanna Nalle'', a remake of Tamil film ''Thullatha Manamum Thullum'', alongside Isha Koppikar. The film was successful at the box-office.

2001-2013: Career slump and setbacks

In 2001, Ravichandran continued acting in several remake films under different production banners including Rockline Productions' '' Usire'', Sa Ra Govindu produced ''Kanasugara'' and Vyjayanthi Movies bankrolled film '' Premakke Sai''. All these films were remakes of successful Tamil and Telugu projects. The year 2002 proved another setback for Ravichandran who embarked on an ambitious film ''Ekangi''. Shot inside a massive glass mansion built at a cost of Rs.80 lakh, the film promised to be a unique take on loneliness. Despite garnering the Karnataka State Film Awards in various segments (including Best Director and Best Music director) and favorable reviews, the musical film failed to please the audience and by his own admission, the film wrecked the actor on multiple levels In 2003, Ravichandran featured in ''Ondagona Baa'', a remake of Telugu film, ''Kalisundam Raa'' (2000) which was considered to be a reunion film with Hamsalekha. However, the film underperformed at the box office.

In 2004, Ravichandran tasted success through his directorial, '' Malla'' which had Priyanka Upendra in the opposite lead. The film was declared a musical blockbuster upon its release and recovered most of the losses incurred through his earlier failure projects. However this success was short-lived with his next directorial ''Aham Premasmi'' failed at the box-office despite receiving positive reviews. The film starred Ravichandran's brother Balaji and Aarti Chhabria in the lead roles. Following this, a string of average unsuccessful films continued to release until he switched over to character roles in late 2010s.

2014-present: Switch to character roles

After having moderate success in his previous lead role films, Ravichandran accepted to play as a father to actor Sudeepa in the film ''Maanikya'' (2014). The film, upon release, drew a major critical acclaim from critics particularly lauding the performances of both actors and their on-screen chemistry. This critical acclaim continued with his next release, ''Drishya'' (2014), a remake of Malayalam film ''Drishyam'', where he played the role portrayed by Mohanlal in the original version. Upon release, the performances of Ravichandran, Navya Nair and Asha Sarath received overwhelmingly positive reviews, along with the film's screenplay.

His next directorial film '' Apoorva'' (2016) was a love story which takes place between a 61-year-old man and 19-year-old girl. The film was declared a "flop" at the box-office. Later in the year, he appeared in the successful film ''Mungaru Male 2'' directed by Preetham Gubbi and played the role of Ganesh's father. He teamed up again with Sudeepa, this time playing his brother's role in the film '' Hebbuli'' (2007). After a string of unsuccessful films, he took up the role of Lord Krishna, his first mythological role, for the film ''Kurukshetra'' (2019), which was based on the epic poem ''Gadhayuddha'' by Ranna, which itself was based on the Indian epic ''Mahabharata''.

In 2021, he reprised his role of Rajendra Bopanna in '' Drishya 2'', a sequel to ''Drishya''. The film released to positive reviews and was a decent hit at the box-office. In 2022, he played the titular role in '' Ravi Bopanna'' a remake of Malayalam film ''Joseph''. A critic from ''Bangalore Mirror'' reviewed expressing "Ravichandran's fans will enjoy this flick as he is the hero as well as the villain and also as crazy as they love him to be".

In 2023, Ravichandran appeared in the action drama ''Kranti'' directed by V. Harikrishna and played Darshan's father role. The film received mixed to negative reviews from critics His next film scheduled for release is ''KD - The Devil'' starring Dhruva Sarja in the lead role.

In the media

He started his company Eswari Audio later to be known as Eswari Entertainments. He was also awarded as the Best Musical Director on the state level. He not only brought the trend of Big-Budget Movies to Kannada cinema but also brought in Digital Grading technology. He started selling music cassettes through cable operators to beat piracy. Ravichandran was also seen on television as a judge in Dancing-star season-2 on Colors Kannada.

Filmography

As actor

As director, producer and writer

Awards

Cinema Express Awards

* Cinema Express Award For Best Debut Director - ''Premaloka'' - 1987
* Cinema Express Award For Best Actor - ''Premaloka'' - 1987
* Cinema Express Award For Best Director - ''Ranadheera'' - 1989

Karnataka State Film Awards
* Karnataka State Film Award (Special Jury Award) – ''Shanti Kranti''
* Karnataka State Film Award for Best Actor – ''Ekangi'' (2001–02)
* Karnataka State Film Award for Best Director for ''Ekangi'' (2001–02)
* Karnataka State Film Award for Best Music Director for ''Ekangi'' (2001–02)
* Puttanna Kanagal Award for Lifetime Achievement (2005–06)

Other Awards

* Suvarna Film Awards for Lifetime Achievement
* Rajyotsava Awards (2010)
* Udaya Film Award for Best Supporting Actor – ''Aham Premasmi''
* NTR National Award - 2013
* Honorary Doctorate From CMR University - 2019
*Honorary Doctorate From Bangalore university - 2022

Notes

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ravichandran, V.
Living people
20th-century Indian male actors
21st-century Indian male actors
Indian male film actors
Male actors in Kannada cinema
Kannada film score composers
Kannada film directors
Male actors from Bengaluru
Kannada film producers
Kannada male actors
Kannada-language lyricists
Indian male songwriters
Indian songwriters
20th-century Indian composers
21st-century Indian composers
Musicians from Bengaluru
Film producers from Bengaluru
Male actors in Tamil cinema
Tamil film directors
Film directors from Bengaluru
Recipients of the Rajyotsava Award 2010
Indian male film score composers
20th-century Indian male musicians
21st-century Indian male musicians
1961 births
Tamil people