Malaysian as Tamil movie icon of late 60s

And another icon of the Kollywood silver screen of the bygone golden era breathed his last breath in Chennai on 25th July 2011. Not many know that he grew up in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. His brother, Bairoji Narayana, was a reader of Tamil news over the radio and telly. The funny part about Bairoji was that he had a unique, deep voice which was outstanding. He once 'acted' in a Tamil whodunit radio drama with him being the killer. It was not much of a thriller as all listeners knew Bairoji was the killer with his distinctive voice as he had made many threatening phone calls for a ransom in the drama!

Ravichandran was sent to India to study medicine. Legend has it that during a term holiday, he was travelling on a train which got derailed. Ravi and his friends were busy rescuing fellow victims. His heroic act and smooth look captured the eyes of Tamil film director Sridhar's talent scouts, who were on the same fateful train. From then on, it was history; he was cast in Sridhar's next movie, the then radically themed movie, 'Kathallike Nerramillai', with sensuous, provocative lyrics in its song.

I suppose that was the end of his medical studies. Now, I read that he missed his medical examinations after a bout of chickenpox. My children are sick and tired of me telling them to do good; if not, God will them with an unavoidable infliction like chicken pox!

Enjoy this clip... Incidentally, Mr R. Viswanathan, our headmaster in PFS, used to be serenaded with this song by the Indian folks (makkal) in school. 

Ravichandran (Tamil actor)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ravichandran (1939 or 1940 – 25 July 2011) was a Tamil film actor who played lead roles in Tamil movies of the 1960s and 1970s. He has also acted in supporting characters in some recent Tamil film and had also directed several films. 
Ravichandran was born P.S. Raman in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He moved to Tiruchirappalli, India in 1951, and studied at St. Joseph's College. He was married twice: his first marriage was to Malayalam actress Sheela, and they had a son, George; he was later married to Vimala, with whom he had a daughter, Lavanya, and two sons, Balaji and Hamsavardhan. Hamsavardhan and George also took up acting as a career, with Hamsavardhan starring in the film Manthiran, directed by his father.
Ravichandran died from multiple organ failure on 25 July 2011 at the Apollo Hospital in Chennai after suffering from a lung infection and kidney disease.