The Master of Dance in the South takes his last breath:
Raghuram master was one of the well known choreographers in the south which included Telugu movies and Tamil movies, who passed away in Chennai this saturday. He died at the age of 64 at his residence due to massive heart attack.
His family and his first work:
Raghuram was the grandson of the famous filmaker in Tamil, T Subramanian. Raghuram lived with his wife Girija, another choreographer and two daughters Suja and Gayathri, who are also popular now as actress-cum-choreographer. His aunt was Padma Subrahmanvam, a famous classical dancer. He made his film debut as a child artist first with Padikatha Medhai and went on to act in a number of films then. He first worked as an assistant choreographer to A.K. Chopra in 1962 for M.G. Ramachandran’s Anbe Va. In 1974, he started out on his own as a choreographer for different regional movies.
His shining career:
He completed five decades of his career as a choreographer who choreographed over 1,000 songs mostly in Tamil, Kannada Malayalam and also in Hindi. An event was organized recently to honour him for his contribution to Indian cinema. Several celebrities attended his Golden Jubilee to pay him tribute. He made his cinematic debut in Kamal Haasan’s Dasavatharam with a popular role. He was just not a choreographer but he was also a director and producer for many films of different languages. Raghuram directed Bhagya Debata in 1995 in Bengali starring Mithun Chakravarty and Rajnikanth. He was a versatile man with interest in every regional language that he liked to experiment with. He has worked with some of the biggest names in Indian cinema such as Kamal Haasan, Rajinikanth,Sivaji Ganesan, and Amitabh Bachchan. He has worked with various artists of the industry and is very much known due to his rich work. He mentored several famous choreographers like Kala and Brindha. He was not only well-versed in dance forms like Kuchipudi, Kathakali and Bharatanatyam but also learnt tap dance. He earlier learnt Kathakali and later switched to Bharatanatyam under Sarasa. He learnt dance from his gurus such as Gopinath, Bolanath and Vazhavur Ramaiah Pillai. ‘Salangai Oli’ and ‘Punnagai Mannan’ were the films whose songs were best choreographed by him.
Raghuram left us with great work and memories:
He has a much respected name in the film industry. Every known person from the South Indian film industries including Telugu movies and Tamil movies,those who have worked with the Master expressed their shock over his death. They griefed over the fact that it’s a great loss to the industry. Telugu movies and Tamil movies would not be the same without him. His great work and desire to fulfill his passion led him towards perfection. No one could replace his place in the south film industry. He contributed to the audience not only great choreographed songs but also mesmerized the public with his outstanding multi-talented work by directing and producing good movies. We convey our condolences to the family members of the deceased choreographer.