Ravichandran (Tamil actor)

Ravichandran is a Tamil, born B. S. Raman in Kuala Lumpur, capital of the Federated Malay States. He moved to Tiruchirappalli, India in 1951, and studied at St. Joseph's College.^[5] Before entering cinema, during his studies in Trichy, he has acted in two dramas, namely, Aanaiyidungal Anna and Udhaya Suriyan. After entering cinema, he has acted in two dramas, namely, Mapplley Yen Magalaik Kadhali and That Man from Poonthamallee.

He was married twice; he first married Vimala, with whom he has a daughter, Lavanya, and two sons, Balaji and Hamsavardhan. Thereafter, he married Malayalam actress Sheela, and had a son George Vishnu. After his divorce with the latter he got back with his first wife. His sons Hamsavardhan and George also took up acting as a career, with Hamsavardhan starring in the film Manthiran, directed by Ravichandran himself. His granddaughter Tanya Ravichandran debuted in Balle Vellaiyathevaa.

Ravichandran was introduced by director C. V. Sridhar in his film Kadhalikka Neramillai in the year 1964. In the course of his many future films, he became the star of hope for many producers since right from his debut film, all his starrers became hits.^[6] He had played many lead roles in the Tamil movies of 1960s and 1970s. He had a long career in films and had many hits like Gowri Kalyanam (1966), Athey Kangal (1967), Naan (1967) and Moondrezhuthu (1968). He also acted a few malayalams films suchs as Vimochanasamaram (1971), Aromalunni (1972), Sakthi (1972) and Sikharangal (1979). He collaborated with Rajinikanth's starrer Guru Sishyan (1988), Raja Chinna Roja (1989) and Arunachalam (1997) whose films were all commercial successes. He co-starring with actor Vijayakanth in Amman Kovil Kizhakale (1986), Oomai Vizhigal (1986), Ninaive Oru Sangeetham (1987), Sattam Oru Vilayaattu (1987), Therkathi Kallan (1988), Poruthathu Pothum (1989), Ramana (2002) and Thennavan (2003). He directed two films with his son Hamsavardhan for his debut Maanaseega Kadhal (1999) and Manthiran (2005). The last film, he was seen on screen was Aadu Puli (2011).^[7]