Versatile actor Raghuvaran dead at 59

Chennai, Mar 19 (UNI) Versatile actor Raghuvaran, who has the uncanny knack of essaying the roles of Hero as well as Villain with equal finesse, died at a private hospital here this morning after a brief illness.

He was 59. He is survived by his divorced wife and former actor Rohini and a son.

The tall actor, who had been suffering from diabetes and other complications, was rushed to a private hospital this morning, where he collapsed. His family members were at the bedside when the end came around 0830 hrs.

The body was later shifted to his residence at T Nagar where the Tamil film world paid their last respects.

Nadigar Sangam President Sarathkumar, his wife Radhika, Satyaraj, Radha Ravi, Thalai Vasal Vijay, comedian Vivek and several others placed a wreath on the body and paid their homage.

The mortal remains of Raghuvaran, who had acted in several Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and Hindi films and has been praised as a natural actor, would be consigned to flames this evening.

Most of his roles were of villain or supporting actor. He became famous with his role as the protagonist of a Tamil soap opera, ''Oru Manidhanin Kadhai,'' the story about a well-to-do man who becomes an alcoholic and faces the consequent difficulties.

Raghuvaran, who had taken a sabbatical from active films due to ill-health, made a come back last year in the film ''Sivapathigaram'' and later acted in big films, including Rajnikanth's blockbuster ''Sivaji-The Boss.'' His last film was ''Sila Nerangalil'' and ''Bheema,'' which were released recently.

The tall and handsome Kollywood star was a student of the Film Institute.

(ED :Pick up suitably from earlier series).

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