Raghava Lawrence facts for kids

Raghava Lawrence, whose birth name is Raghava Murugaiyan, is a talented person from India. He is an actor, choreographer, and film director. He also composes music, sings, writes songs, and produces movies. He is mostly known for his work in Tamil films.

He started as a dance choreographer in 1993. Later, he looked for acting roles. His acting career began in 1998 in a Telugu film. In 2001, he started using the name "Raghava." He worked with many famous actors and directors in Tamil cinema. He became very well-known after his Telugu films Style and Muni.

Lawrence is also famous for his cool hip-hop and Western dance moves. He has won many awards for his choreography. These include four Filmfare Awards South, three Nandi Awards, and two Tamil Nadu State Film Awards.

In 2015, after the death of former Indian president A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, Lawrence started a charity. He named it after the president and gave ₹1 crore (US$170,000) to it.

Early Life and Beginnings

Lawrence was born on October 29, 1976. His parents were Murugaiyan and Kanmani, who spoke Tamil. When Lawrence was a child, he had a brain tumor. He believes that a deity named Raghavendra Swamy helped him get better. Because of this, he took the name Raghava.

He built the Raghavendra Swamy Brindavanam Temple in Thirumullaivayal. This temple opened on January 1, 2010. Raghava also has a younger brother named Elviin Lawrence.

His Journey in Films

Starting Out (1989–2001)

Lawrence first worked as a car cleaner for a fight master named Super Subbarayan. The famous actor Rajinikanth saw him dancing. Rajinikanth then helped him join the Dancers Union.

Lawrence first appeared in a song in the Tamil film Samsara Sangeetham in 1989. He also danced in Donga Police in 1991 with Prabhu Deva. He was a background dancer in the popular song "Chikku Bukku Chikku Bukku Railey" from Gentleman (1993). He also danced in Muta Mesthri (1993), Rakshana (1993), and Allari Priyudu (1993).

A director named Chiranjeevi asked Lawrence to choreograph dances for his film Hitler (1997). Chiranjeevi liked Lawrence's work so much that he asked him to choreograph his next film, Master (1997), too.

Later, a producer named T V D Prasad offered Lawrence a main acting role in his film Speed Dancer (1999). This film was not successful. After that, Lawrence acted in smaller roles. These included films like Ajith Kumar's Unnai Kodu Ennai Tharuven (2000) and Prashanth's Parthen Rasithen (2000). Director K. Balachander also invited him to act in his 100th film, Parthale Paravasam (2001).

Becoming a Star (2002–2010)

Lawrence got his first main acting role in a Tamil film with Arpudham (2002). Critics said he was "tolerable" in the film. He then acted in Style (2002). He also made a special appearance with Vijay in the Tamil movie Thirumalai (2003).

After another special appearance in Thendral (2004), he directed his first film. It was a Telugu film called Mass (2004), starring Nagarjuna and Jyothika. This movie was a big hit.

He then directed and acted in Style (2006). This film also featured Prabhu Deva and special appearances by Nagarjuna and Chiranjeevi. Lawrence became very famous with Muni (2007), a horror thriller film.

After that, he directed another film called Don (2007). This movie starred Nagarjuna and Anushka Shetty. Lawrence also acted in two roles in this film. The movie focused a lot on its style and technical parts. It had an average response from the audience.

Raghava continued to act in different types of films. These included Pandi (2008), Rajadhi Raja (2009), and Irumbukkottai Murattu Singam (2010). Pandi was a moderate success. Rajadhi Raja received negative reviews, and Irumbukkottai Murattu Singam got mixed reviews.

Recent Career (2011–Present)

He continued the Muni film series with Kanchana (2011). Sarath Kumar played a main role in this film. It was a big commercial success. In 2012, he directed the Telugu movie Rebel, starring Prabhas and Tamannaah.

He acted in Kanchana 2 (2015). In 2017, he starred in an action film called Motta Shiva Ketta Shiva. Critics described this film as "Crass, loud and brainless." Then he acted in another horror film, Shivalinga. This was a remake of a Kannada film with the same name, directed by P. Vasu. The story is about a police officer who investigates a suspicious death. He finds out that his own wife is possessed by the ghost of the young man who died.

Raghava Lawrence returned with the fourth movie in the series, Muni 4: Kanchana 3: Kaali (2019). This film had three heroines and did very well at the box office. In 2020, he directed his first Hindi cinema film, Laxmii. This movie was a remake of his own film Muni 2: Kanchana.

On November 10, 2023, the movie Jigarthanda DoubleX was released. Raghava Lawrence and SJ Suryah played the main roles. This film was a prequel to the original movie, Jigarthanda.

On April 14, 2024, it was announced that Lawrence would star in a film called Benz. This movie is directed by Bakkiyaraj Kannan and written and produced by Lokesh Kanagaraj. In October 2024, it was confirmed that Benz is part of the Lokesh Cinematic Universe.

Helping Others (Social Work)

Raghava Lawrence has done a lot of social work. He has helped many young children get heart surgeries. He also supported the bull-riding sport jallikattu after it was banned in 2017.

During a protest in Tamil Nadu in January 2017, he provided food, medicine, and other basic needs to the people protesting. He promised to support them until the protests ended. He also asked to meet with Kerala's chief minister, Pinarayi Vijayan. He wanted to donate 1 crore rupees to help the victims of the Kerala flood.

Filmography

As a Director

As an Actor

• All films are in Tamil language, unless otherwise note

Acting Performances in Films

Year	Film	Role(s)	Notes
1999	Speed Dancer	Seenu	Telugu film
2000	Unnai Kodu Ennai Tharuven	Ganapathi
2000	Parthen Rasithen	Doss
2001	Parthale Paravasam	Azhagu
2002	Arpudham	Ashok Kumar
	Style	Rishaanth
2004	Thendral	Kumar
	Mass	Cameo	Telugu film
2006	Style	Raghava	Telugu film
2007	Muni	Ganesh
	Don	Raghava	Telugu film
2008	Pandi	Pandi
2009	Rajadhi Raja	Raja
2010	Irumbukkottai Murattu Singam	Singam & Singaram	Double role
2011	Muni 2: Kanchana	Raghava
2015	Muni 3: Kanchana 2	Raghava & Shiva	Dual role
2017	Motta Siva Ketta Siva	ACP Shivakumar	Also playback singer for song "Motta Paiyan"
	Shivalinga	Shivalingeswaran
2019	Muni 4: Kanchana 3	Raghava & Kaali	Dual role
2023	Rudhran	Rudhran
	Chandramukhi 2	Pandian & Sengottaiyan Vettaiyan	Dual role
	Jigarthanda DoubleX	Alliyus "Alliyan" Caesar
2025	Adhigaram	0TBA	Filming
	Benz	0TBA	Filming
	Kaala Bhairava	0TBA	Filming
	Bullet	Nicknamed as Kingstar	Post-production

As a Dancer

Television Appearances

• Masthaana Masthaana Part II (2007)

Music and Songs

As a Playback Singer

As a Music Composer

As a Lyricist

Awards and Achievements