R. Muthuraman

Muthuraman Radhakrishnan (4 July 1929 – 16 October 1981) was an Indian actor who predominantly worked in Tamil cinema. He was a leading actor during the 1960s and 1970s and was known as Navarasa Thilagam for his versatile acting and language proficiency. He had paired with all the leading heroines of his time performing in main and character roles.

Muthuraman was born on 4 July 1929 to Radhakrishnan Onthiriyar and Rathnavathi in Orathanadu Taluk -Okkanadu melayur, a town in the erstwhile Thanjavur district of Tamil Nadu in a Kallar (Thevar) family and a family that had no stage or acting links. He was the son of an advocate and his uncle was a police officer. However, in his youth he was attracted to films and the fine arts. He joined the field much later in life, as he first became a government employee due to family pressure.^[1][2]

Muthuraman was a stage actor in his early days. He joined veteran actor S.S. Rajendran's SSR Nataka Mandram and then Seva Stage and acted in numerous dramas, including Manimagudam, Muthumandapam and Bharathiyar's poetic dramas.^[3]

He went to play many roles in about 100 movies in the sixties and seventies. Although he was a player in an era dominated by stalwarts such as M G Ramachandran, Sivaji Ganesan and Gemini Ganesan, he made a name and place for himself as a popular actor. He was paired with most heroines of the time, including Chandrakanta, Rajasree, Devika, L. Vijayalakshmi, Lakshmi, Vennira Aadai Nirmala, Vijaya Nirmala, Vanisri, Sujatha, Bharathi, Srividya, Sridevi, Jayalalithaa, Sripriya, but his most constant heroine with whom he was paired for a record of 19 times was K. R. Vijaya.^[4]

He starred in many successful films, in co-hero roles in movies such as Kaadhalikka Neramillai (1964), Ooty Varai Uravu (1967), and supporting roles in movies such as Server Sundaram (1964) and Moondru Deivangal (1971).^[1] Muthuraman also established a production company, Muthukarthik Pictures.^[5]

Muthuraman was married to Sulochana. The couple had four children, the youngest of whom, Karthik, became a popular Tamil film actor.^[1]

In October 1981, Muthuraman arrived at Ooty to attend the shooting for Ayiram Muthangal. When he was jogging as part of a routine exercise, he collapsed on the road and became unconscious. Actor Sivakumar who had stayed in the same place, was told that Muthuraman was lying unconscious on the street thereafter Muthuraman was rushed to the hospital by actor Sivakumar. The doctor declared Muthuraman dead on arrival.^[6] He was 52 years old at the time of his death.^[7]

• R. Muthuraman at IMDb