Raghu Ram is ready for the discharge of his upcoming movie – Adhik Ravichandran’s Good, Bad, Ugly – starring Ajith Kumar. His earlier Tamil movie, Doctor (2021), starring Sivakarthikeyan, was acclaimed in addition to profitable. But it was launched in the course of the pandemic-induced lockdowns. So, Raghu couldn’t be part of the promotions or watch it in Chennai. This time, it’s a greater mission. So, Raghu is ready to expertise the fanfare in Chennai with his spouse Natalie Di Luccio, who has sung in Kadal and I.
Raghu made his title as a tv producer and host with in style actuality reveals like Roadies, Splitsvilla, and Indian Idol. His first movie was Abbas Tyrewala’s Jhootha Hi Sahi. Of late, he has begun embracing appearing as greater than only a aspect gig.
“I think about three years ago, I was going through a transition in my mindset,” he says, over a name, “I was becoming more fascinated with fiction and other aspects of creativity.” It was round this time that Keedaa Cola, a Telugu movie directed by Tharun Bhascker, got here his method, giving him the sense of course he had been searching for. Since then, he has taken on a wide range of roles throughout a number of industries, culminating in his upcoming Tamil enterprise.
The Ajith issue
Raghu’s filmography spans a number of languages — Hindi, Punjabi, Telugu, and now Tamil — however it’s the southern industries which have intrigued him probably the most. “I really enjoyed working in the South a lot more,” he admits, “So, I was like, okay, we’ll do this now. I’m an actor now.” His background provides him a singular connection to Tamil cinema. Though he primarily lived in Mumbai and Delhi, he grew up in a Telugu family whereas attending a college run by a Tamil administration. “For me, Tamil is not a foreign language. I don’t see myself as a random North Indian being cast in a Tamil film,” he says.
One of the largest attracts of Good, Bad, Ugly for Raghu was the prospect to work with Ajith Kumar. “All I can tell you about my character is that it’s nothing like the one in Doctor. That’s one of the reasons it appealed to me — it’s very different from anything I’ve done,” he says. “But personally, what drew me to this is that it’s an Ajith Kumar film, a Mythri production, and it’s by Adhik. All three aspects are very appealing because I really wanted to do another Tamil film.”
His expertise working with Ajith was each enlightening and amusing. Used to the casual trade tradition of Mumbai, Raghu discovered himself in a peculiar state of affairs when addressing the star. “In Mumbai and Delhi, when I started out at 20 years old, I was trained to call all my colleagues by their names. But down South, it can be seen as disrespectful.” Ajith, nevertheless, was glad with the informality. “When I met Ajith Kumar, he said, ‘Hi, Raghu,’ and I asked him, ‘Is it okay if I call you Ajith?’ He said, ‘Yeah, sure, man, I would love that.’ But whenever I called him Ajith, the set would go silent. People would stop what they were doing and look at us.” Eventually, he relented and began calling him “Ajith sir” for the consolation of the crew.
But what actually struck him about Ajith was his larger-than-life persona. “I started getting a little in awe of him when I realised that he was driving his own racing car. It’s like Bruce Wayne is so rich that he could hire someone to be Batman, but he chooses to be Batman himself.” Beyond his stardom, Ajith’s outlook in the direction of life resonated deeply with Raghu. “The biggest thing I picked up from him is to not let societal expectations limit or define you. He doesn’t need to prove anything — he just is.”
Raghu Ram
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Special Arrangement
The Adhik expertise
If working with Ajith was an expertise in trade tradition, collaborating with director Adhik Ravichandran was a crash course in adapting to a singular inventive course of. “I can confidently say that working with Adhik will be different from working with any other director. It’s a unique experience, and I’m sure it will never be replicated.”
Adhik’s method is extremely spontaneous, usually finalising dialogues on the day of the shoot. For a non-native Tamil speaker like Raghu, this added a layer of problem. “It’s okay for everybody else, but for me, it is slightly difficult. I used to beg, ‘Please give me the dialogues in advance.’ But Adhik would joke, ‘Sir, you’re not working here; you’re on vacation.’” Yet, Raghu acknowledges that this spontaneity brings a freshness to the performances. “There’s an energy to his filmmaking. It jumps out of the screen.”
The highway forward
As somebody who has transitioned from producer to actor, Raghu approaches his roles with a author’s mindset. “Writers have a different language,” he says. “When I talk to writer-directors like Nelson and Adhik, I listen to cues about how they’ve written the characters. It helps me gain insights into the role.”
His potential to empathise with even probably the most unfavorable characters is a testomony to his dedication. “As an actor and a writer, you cannot judge a character. You have to empathise with them and find their humanity,” he explains. This philosophy was evident in Doctor, the place he performed a baby abductor. “We couldn’t just play villains; we had to find the humanity in them.”
Raghu can also be venturing into screenwriting, drawing inspiration from the filmmakers he has labored with. “Every director is also an actor in a way. When they direct me, I pick up on their movements, their vision.”
As he waits for the discharge of Good, Bad, Ugly, Raghu Ram is now not only a actuality TV icon or a reluctant actor. He is absolutely embracing the artwork of storytelling — on and off display.
Published – March 18, 2025 07:39 pm IST
