Raghava Lawrence (born Lawrence Murugaiyan) is an Indian actor, choreographer, film director, composer, playback singer, lyricist, film producer and philanthropist known for his works primarily in Tamil cinema. After making his debut as a dance choreographer in 1993, he began looking for acting opportunities. He began his career as an actor in 1998, in a Telugu cinema. He adopted the name "Raghava" in 2001, and worked for many prominent actors and directors in Tamil cinema throughout his career. He got his breakthrough with Telugu film Style and then Muni. Lawrence is also known for his intricate hip-hop and westernised dance moves and has won four Filmfare Awards, three Nandi Awards and two Tamil Nadu State Film Award for best choreography.
In 2015, after the death of former Indian president A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, Lawrence set up a charity trust in his name and donated .
Early life and background
Lawrence was born on 29 October 1976 into a
Tamils speaking family of Murugaiyan and Kanmani. Lawrence had a
brain tumor when he was a child.
He attributes the curing of his tumor to the
deity, Raghavendra Swamy,
[ TeluguCinema.Com – TC Exclusive: Interview with choreographer-director Lawrence. Telugucinema.com. 11 February 2005] and in an act of devotion, he
took the name Raghava
He built the Raghavendra Swamy Brindavanam Temple at
Thirumullaivoyal on the
Avadi-
Ambattur route, which opened on 1 January 2010.
Raghava also has a younger brother, Elviin Lawrence.
Career
Initial career (1989–2001)
He was working as a car cleaner for fight master
Super Subbarayan.
saw him dancing and helped him to join the Dancers Union.
Lawrence first appeared in a song in
Samsara Sangeetham a Tamil film in 1989 directed by T. Rajendran. Then he appeared in
Donga Police in 1991, also doing some dances with
Prabhu Deva. He was a background dancer in the song Chikku Bukku Chikku Bukku Railey in
Gentleman (1993).
He also appeared in dance sequences in
Muta Mesthri (1993),
Rakshana (1993) and
Allari Priyudu (1993).
offered him the job of choreographing the dances for
Hitler (1997). Pleased with Lawrence's work, Chiranjeevi asked him to choreograph dances for
Master (1997), his next film too.
Producer T V D Prasad offered him the role of a hero in his venture
Speed Dancer (1999).
That film was a flop.
After that he acted small roles in Tamil like
Ajith Kumar's
Unnai Kodu Ennai Tharuven (2000) and
Prashanth's
Parthen Rasithen (2000).
Director K. Balachander invited him to act in his 100th film
Parthale Paravasam (2001).
Establishing career (2002–2010)
He acted as a first lead role in the Tamil with
Arpudham (2002). As described by review
sify , the latest in the line is Lawrence, who like his predecessor Prabhu Deva, is determined to be a hero.
Arputham has a decent screenplay and Lawrence is tolerable. Thereafter,
Style (2002). He also made a guest appearance with Vijay in the Tamil movie
Thirumalai (2003). After a guest appearance in the film
Thendral (2004), he directed his first film in Telugu,
Mass (2004) starring Nagarjuna and
Jyothika. The movie was a commercial success.
He subsequently directed and acted in Style (2006) co-starring with Prabhu Deva and featuring Nagarjuna and Chiranjeevi in guest roles.He got his breakthrough with Muni (2007), a horror thriller film.
Later career (2011–present)
He takes the series
Muni in
(2011). Sarath Kumar play in the main role. The movie was commercially successful. (2019), with the new change being three heroines.
The film has received a good collections at the box office.
In 2020, he made his directorial debut in
Hindi cinema with film,
Laxmii, a remake of
Muni 2: Kanchana.
On November 10, 2023, the movie Jigarthanda DoubleX, featuring actors Raghava Lawrence and SJ Suryah in the lead roles, was released as a prequel to the original film, Jigarthanda.
On 14 April, 2024, it was announced that Lawrence will be starring in a film titled Benz, directed by Bakkiyaraj Kannan and written and produced by Lokesh Kanagaraj
Social work
He did many social service activities in which he has aided many heart surgeries for small children.
He was one of the supporters of the bull-riding sport
jallikattu after its ban in 2017. During a protest in Tamil Nadu in January 2017, he provided food, medicine and basic needs to the protesters and promised to support them until the protests were over.
He asked for an appointment with Kerala chief minister
Pinarayi Vijayan to donate 1 crore as relief fund for the Kerala flood victims.
Filmography
Film director
| + List of films as director |
|
| |
| 2006 | Style | |
| |
| |
| Also producer |
| |
| Also producer |
| Kanchana 3 |
| A remake of Kanchana (2011) |
Filming; also producer |
Actor
-
All films are in Tamil language, unless otherwise note
| + List of acting performances in film |
|
| 1999 | Telugu film |
| 2000 | |
| 2000 | |
| 2001 | |
| 2002 | |
| |
| 2004 | |
| Telugu film; special appearance |
| 2006 | Telugu film |
| 2007 | |
| Telugu film |
| 2008 | |
| 2009 | |
| 2010 | Dual role |
| 2011 | Kanchana | |
| 2015 | Kanchana 2 | Dual role |
| 2017 | Also playback singer for song "Motta Paiyan" |
| |
| 2019 | Kanchana 3 | Dual role |
| 2023 | Rudhran | |
| Chandramukhi 2 | Pandian & Sengottaiyan Vettaiyan | Dual role |
| Jigarthanda DoubleX | Alliyus "Alliyan" Caesar | |
| TBA | | | Filming |
| | | Filming |
| | | Filming |
| | Kingstar | Post-production |
| | | Filming |
| | | Announced |
Dancer
| + List of dancing performances in film |
|
| 1993 | |
| |
| |
| 1994 | |
| 1995 | |
| 1996 | |
| 1997 | |
| 1998 | |
| |
| 1999 | |
| 2000 | |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| 2001 | |
| 2002 | |
| |
| |
| 2003 | |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| 2004 | |
| 2010 | |
| 2014 | |
Television
-
Masthaana Masthaana Part II (2007)
Discography
As a playback singer
| + List of films as a playback singer
! scope="col" | Song(s)
! scope="col" | Year
! scope="col" | Film
! scope="col" | Composer |
| Thala Suttuthe Maamu | 2007 | Muni | Bharadwaj |
| Motta Motta Paiyyan | 2017 | Motta Siva Ketta Siva | Amresh Ganesh |
| Lo Lo Lo Local |
|
As a music composer
| + List of films as music composer |
|
| 2007 | Songs only; score composed by S. Chinna |
| 2012 | Rebel |
As lyricist
Accolades
|
| Filmfare Awards South | Best Choreography | Annayya | 2000 | |
| Paarthale Paravasam | 2001 | | |
| Indra | 2002 | | |
| Style | 2006 | | |
| Nandi Awards | Best Choreographer | Annayya | 2000 | | |
| Indra | 2002 | | |
| Style | 2006 | | |
| Tamil Nadu State Film Awards | Best Choreographer | Kannupada Poguthaiya | 1999 | |
| Kanchana | 2011 | | |
Notes
External links
