Raghava Lawrence

Raghava Lawrence (born Lawrence Murugaiyan on 29 October 1976) 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 the Telugu film Speed Dancer.

He adopted the name "Raghava" in 2001, and choreographed songs for many prominent actors and directors in Tamil and Telugu cinema throughout his career. He got his breakthrough as an actor with the Telugu film Style (2006) and Tamil horror comedy Muni (2007). As a choreographer, he is known for his simple but intricate hip-hop and westernised dance moves and has won four Filmfare Awards, three Nandi Awards, and two Tamil Nadu State Film Awards for Best Choreography and one Vijay Awards for social responsibility.

Early life and background Lawrence had a brain tumor when he was a child. He attributes the curing of his tumor to the deity, Raghavendra Swamy, and in an act of devotion, he took the name Raghava Raghava also has a younger brother, Elvin.

Career Initial career (1992–2001) He was working as a car cleaner for fight master Super Subbarayan. He made his first appearance in Donga Police (1992) while doing some dances with Prabhu Deva including working as a background dancer in the song "Chikku Bukku Chikku Bukku Raile" in Gentleman (1993). Thereafter, Style (2002). After making guest appearances in several films including Thirumalai (2003) and 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. Thereafter, he directed another film, Don (2007). The film starring Nagarjuna and Anushka Shetty. Raghava acted in second roles and made the film depending only on style and technical aspects. The movie had an average response. Raghava continues to play in different categories films such as Pandi (2008), Rajadhi Raja (2009) and Irumbukkottai Murattu Singam (2010). Pandi was a moderate success, while Rajadhi Raja was released to negative reviews, and Irumbukkottai Murattu Singam was released to mixed reviews.

Later career (2011–present) He takes the series Muni in Kanchana (2011). Sarath Kumar play in the main role. The movie was commercially successful. In 2012, he directed Telugu movie Rebel starring Prabhas and Tamannaah. He acted in Kanchana 2 (2015). In 2017, he starred in an action Masala film, Motta Shiva Ketta Shiva. Sify described the film as, "Crass, loud and brainless." Then another of genre horror Shivalinga, remake a Kannada language with the same name directed by P. Vasu. Shakthi Vasudevan, son of director, also starred in the important role for two versions. The story is a cop investigating the suspicious death of a Muslim finds out that his own wife has become possessed by the young man's ghost. Raghava Lawrence is back with the fourth movie in the series – Muni 4: Kanchana 3: Kaali (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 ,which was confirmed as a part of the Lokesh Cinematic Universe in October 2024.

Social work In 2015, after the death of former Indian president A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, Lawrence set up a charity trust in his name and made a donation of .

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

Actor