Ravichandran
Born	Veeraswamy Ravichandran (1961-05-30) 30 May 1961 Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
Other names	Rasika
Occupations	Actor filmmaker composer Lyricist Television Presenter
Years active	1982–present
Spouse	Sumathy ​ (m. 1986)​
Children	3, including Manoranjan[1]
Parent	N. Veeraswamy[2] (father)
Relatives	Balaji (brother)[3]

Veeraswamy Ravichandran is an Indian actor, director, producer, music director, lyricist and editor in the Kannada Film Industry. He is the son of film producer N. Veeraswamy. As producer, Ravichandran continues to run his father's production house, Sri Eswari Productions. He is popularly known as "Crazy Star", a title fans have prefixed to his name.^[4] He is famous for bringing innovations to Kannada film industry beginning with Premaloka (1987).

Personal life

Ravichandran was born on 30 May 1961 in Vellore, 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.^[5] The couple has a daughter Geethanjali, two sons Manoranjan and Vikram. Manoranjan made his acting debut with Saheba (2017).^[6][7]

Film career

He made his first on screen appearance as child actor in Dhoomakethu and Kula Gourava - both starring Dr.Rajkumar, the latter also being his father's first movie as independent producer. He made his debut as a producer with Prema Matsara (1982). He began his acting career with an antagonist role in Khadeema Kallaru (1982) which was produced by him. His second film was Chakravyuha (1983) which was also co-produced by him. He then appeared in few more successful films before casting himself and introducing Juhi Chawla in Premaloka (1987) which turned out to be a blockbuster. He is often considered as "The Show Man" of Kannada cinema for his multi-faceted works in his associated films.^[8]

Ravichandran initially acted in and directed movies produced by his own banner, Eswari Productions. After Premaloka, he accepted acting offers from other producers. He has worked with leading directors of the Kannada film industry such as Rajendra Singh Babu 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).^[9]

Shanti Kranti (1991) was the most expensive film ever made in Kannada industry at that time. The film was a multilingual project with Rajinikanth and Nagarjuna in prominent roles in Tamil and Telugu respectively but the film did not do well in box-office.^[10] Ramachaari (1991), Halli Meshtru (1992), Putnanja (1995) were notable blockbusters in 90s. Ravichandran and Hamsalekha collaborated on dozens of movies. The end of their long-standing partnership proved to be unsuccessful for both of them. In 2002, Ravichandran embarked on an ambitious film called Ekangi. Shot inside a massive glass mansion built at a cost of Rs 80 lakh, it was a unique take on loneliness. The success of Malla (2004) began a new chapter in his career.

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.^[11]

His most recent successes were Maanikya (2014), Drishya (2014) and Hebbuli (2017).

In 2019, Ravichandran played the role of Krishna in Kurukshetra. This was the first mythological film in his career.

In 2021, he reprised his role as Rajendra Ponnappa in Drishya 2 receiving praise like its predecessor.^[12]

Filmography

As director, producer and writer

Year	Film	Credited as					Notes
		Director	Producer	Writer	Music director	Editor
1982	Prema Matsara
	Khadeema Kallaru
1983	Chakravyuha
1984	Inquilaab						Hindi Film
	Pralayanthaka
1985	Savira Sullu
	Naanu Nanna Hendthi
	Padikkadavan						Tamil Film
1987	Premaloka
	Paruva Ragam						Tamil film
1988	Ranadheera			Screenplay
1989	Kindari Jogi
1991	Ramachaari
	Shanti Kranti						Telugu Film
	Nattukku Oru Nallavan						Tamil Film
	Shanti Kranti						Hindi Film
1992	Halli Meshtru
	Gopi Krishna
1993	Mane Devru
1994	Chinna
1995	Putnanja
1996	Sipayi
1997	Kalavida
	Mommaga			Screenplay
	Cheluva
1998	Preethsod Thappa
1999	Naanu Nanna Hendthiru
	Sneha
	O Premave
	Chora Chittha Chora
2000	Mahathma
	Preethsu Thappenilla
	O Nanna Nalle
2002	Ekangi
	Kodanda Rama
2004	Malla
2005	Ayya			Lyrics
	Aham Premasmi
	Thunta			Lyrics
	Pandu Ranga Vittala
2006	Hatavadi
	Neelakanta
2010	Hoo			Screenplay
	Aithalakkadi			Lyrics
	Naariya Seere Kadda			Lyrics
2014	Crazy Star
2016	Apoorva
2022	Ravi Bopanna			Screenplay

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 Ekangii (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^[14]

Notes

References

External links

• Ravichandran at IMDb