One of the most reputed and respected choreographer R Raghuram passed away at his residence on Saturday, November 30, 2013 following a brief illness. He was sixty four.
The last rites of Raghuram, who is survived by his wife Girija and two daughters, Sujatha and Gayathri will be performed today December 1, 2013.
Gayathri who is a well known actress as well as a choreographer was away in Japan for choreography work for actor Dhanush’s Vai Raja Vai. Sources close to the family said Raghuram complained of chest pain around noon and died a little later at his residence.
R Raghuram learnt dancing from the age of five. His gurus were Gopinath, Vazhavur Ramaiah Pillai and Bolanath. In his five-decade association with the film industry, he choreographed over fifteen hundred songs for film industries like Tamil, Hindi, Malayalam and Kannada.
Raghuram’s debuted with the feature film Padikatha Methai as a child artiste. He hit the screen as an assistant choreographer in Anbe Vaa and his debut as an independent choreographer was with Arunagiri Nathar, in which he also acted.
He also donned the role of director for over ten odd films, including Viswanathan Velai Venum, starring Karthik and Jeevitha. Raghuram has also also made a Bengali film, Bagya Devata, which was the only movie actor Rajinikanth starred in Bengali in a guest role.
Some of his disciples like Khushboo have become very popular in film industry. Salangai Oli and Punnagai Mannan were a few hit movies of Raghuram. He had worked in number of films including those of superstars Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan. Many celebrities have expressed their condolences on Twitter.
“We lost a great choreographer, a fantastic guru and a wonderful human being Raghu Master just a few minutes back. He was such a humble soul. RIP Masterji. I have lost my guru in Raghuram master,” Khushboo posted on her Twitter page.
Vedhika, who had recently worked with him for a song from upcoming Tamil film Kaaviya Thalaivan, said she was heartbroken and in shock. Venkat Prabhu, Lakshmi Rai, Dhayanidhi Azhagiri, Shantanoo Bhagyaraj and many others shared their condolences on the micro-blogging site too.
May his soul rest in peace.
