Raghava Lawrence facts for kids

Raghava Lawrence, whose birth name was Lawrence Murugaiyan, is a talented Indian artist. He is an actor, a dance choreographer, and a 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 began looking for acting roles. His acting career began in 1998 with a Telugu film. In 2001, he started using the name "Raghava." He has worked with many famous actors and directors in Tamil cinema. He became very well-known with the Telugu film Style and then Muni. Lawrence is also famous for his cool hip-hop and Western-style dance moves. He has won many awards for his choreography, including 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 donated 1 crore Indian Rupees to it.

Early Life and Inspiration

Raghava 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 special deity, Raghavendra Swamy, helped him get better. Because of this, he took the name Raghava to show his devotion.

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. One day, the famous actor Rajinikanth saw him dancing. Rajinikanth 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 appeared in dance scenes in Muta Mesthri (1993), Rakshana (1993), and Allari Priyudu (1993).

The actor Chiranjeevi offered him a job to choreograph dances for his film Hitler (1997). Chiranjeevi was very happy with Lawrence's work. So, he asked him to choreograph dances for his next film, Master (1997), too. A producer named T V D Prasad then offered Lawrence a main acting role in his movie Speed Dancer (1999). However, that film was not successful. After that, he acted in smaller roles in Tamil films. These included Ajith Kumar's Unnai Kodu Ennai Tharuven (2000) and Prashanth's Parthen Rasithen (2000). Famous director K. Balachander invited him to act in his 100th film, Parthale Paravasam (2001).

Becoming Well-Known (2002–2010)

Lawrence got his first main acting role in a Tamil film with Arpudham (2002). Critics said he was "tolerable" in the film. After that, he 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 movie called Mass (2004), starring Nagarjuna and Jyothika. This movie was a big success.

He then directed and acted in Style (2006). This film also featured Prabhu Deva, Nagarjuna, and Chiranjeevi in special roles. Lawrence became very famous with Muni (2007), which was a horror thriller. After that, he directed another film, Don (2007). This movie starred Nagarjuna and Anushka Shetty. Lawrence played a double role in this film. The movie focused a lot on style and technical effects. 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 somewhat successful. Rajadhi Raja received negative reviews, and Irumbukkottai Murattu Singam got mixed reviews.

Recent Career (2011–Present)

He continued the Muni series with Kanchana (2011). Sarath Kumar played a main role in this film. The movie 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 "loud and brainless." Then came another horror film, Shivalinga. This was a remake of a Kannada film with the same name, directed by P. Vasu. The director's son, Shakthi Vasudevan, also had an important role in both versions. The story is about a police officer investigating a suspicious death. He finds out his wife is possessed by the young man's ghost.

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 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

Raghava Lawrence has done many social service activities. 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 basic needs to the protesters. He promised to support them until the protests ended. He also asked to meet the Chief Minister of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan. He wanted to donate 1 crore Indian Rupees to help the victims of the 2018 Kerala floods.

Filmography

As a Director

Films Directed, Written, or Produced by Raghava Lawrence

Year	Film	Director	Writer	Producer	Language	Notes
2004	Mass	Yes	Yes	No	Telugu
2006	Style	Yes	Yes	No	Telugu
2007	Muni	Yes	Yes	No	Tamil
	Don	Yes	Yes	No	Telugu
2011	Kanchana	Yes	Yes	Yes	Tamil
2012	Rebel	Yes	Yes	No	Telugu
2015	Kanchana 2	Yes	Yes	Yes	Tamil
2019	Kanchana 3	Yes	Yes	Yes
2020	Laxmii	Yes	Yes	No	Hindi	A Remake of Kanchana (2011)
2025	Kanchana 4	Yes	Yes	Yes	Tamil	Filming

As an Actor

• All films are in Tamil language, unless otherwise noted

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
	Kanchana 4	0TBA	Filming
	Hunter	0TBA	Announced

As a Dancer

Television

• Masthaana Masthaana Part II (2007)

Music and Songs

As a Singer

As a Music Composer

As a Lyricist

Awards and Recognition