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.[4] He is popularly referred to as "Crazy Star" by the media and his followers.[5]
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.[6] 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.
Ravichandran was born on 30 May 1961 in Tirunelveli, Madras State (now Tamil Nadu), 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.[9] The couple has a daughter Geethanjali, two sons Manoranjan and Vikram. Manoranjan made his acting debut with Saheba (2017).[10][11]
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.[12] 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).[13] 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.[14] 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.[15] He was credited as Rakesh in order not to confuse the audience with the other Tamil actor, Ravichandran.[16]
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.[17] 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.[18] 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.[19] The film also marked the decades long association of Ravichandran with music director Hamsalekha.[20] 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,[21] the latter film was a remake of 1984 Tamil film Thambikku Entha Ooru and was declared blockbuster hit.[22] 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
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.[25] 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).
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.[26] In 1999, Ravichandran scored music, besides acting, for films such as Naanu Nanna Hendthiru, Sneha, O Premaveand Chora Chittha Chora. In the year 2000, he directed and appeared in O Nanna Nalle, a remake of Tamil film Thulladha 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[27] 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.[28][29] 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.[30][31][32][33][34] 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.[35][36][37]
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.[38] 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,[39][40][41] which itself was based on the Indian epic Mahabharata.[42][43]
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.[44] In 2022, he played the titular role in Ravi Bopanna a remake of Malayalam film Joseph.[45][46] 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".[47]
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 [48] 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.[49]
