Raghu Ram is waiting for the release of his upcoming film – Adhik Ravichandran’s Good, Bad, Ugly – starring Ajith Kumar. His previous Tamil film, Doctor (2021), starring Sivakarthikeyan, was acclaimed as well as successful. But it was released during the pandemic-induced lockdowns. So, Raghu could not be a part of the promotions or watch it in Chennai. This time, it is a bigger project. So, Raghu is waiting to experience the fanfare in Chennai with his wife Natalie Di Luccio, who has sung in Kadal and I.
Raghu made his name as a television producer and host with popular reality shows like Roadies, Splitsvilla, and Indian Idol. His first film was Abbas Tyrewala’s Jhootha Hi Sahi. Of late, he has begun embracing acting as more than just a side gig.
“I think about three years ago, I was going through a transition in my mindset,” he says, over a call, “I was becoming more fascinated with fiction and other aspects of creativity.” It was around this time that Keedaa Cola, a Telugu film directed by Tharun Bhascker, came his way, giving him the sense of direction he had been seeking. Since then, he has taken on a variety of roles across multiple industries, culminating in his upcoming Tamil venture.
The Ajith factor
Raghu’s filmography spans multiple languages — Hindi, Punjabi, Telugu, and now Tamil — but it is the southern industries that have intrigued him the most. “I really enjoyed working in the South a lot more,” he admits, “So, I was like, okay, we’ll do this now. I’m an actor now.” His background gives him a unique connection to Tamil cinema. Though he primarily lived in Mumbai and Delhi, he grew up in a Telugu household while attending a school run by a Tamil management. “For me, Tamil is not a foreign language. I don’t see myself as a random North Indian being cast in a Tamil film,” he says.
One of the biggest draws of Good, Bad, Ugly for Raghu was the chance to work with Ajith Kumar. “All I can tell you about my character is that it’s nothing like the one in Doctor. That’s one of the reasons it appealed to me — it’s very different from anything I’ve done,” he says. “But personally, what drew me to this is that it’s an Ajith Kumar film, a Mythri production, and it’s by Adhik. All three aspects are very appealing because I really wanted to do another Tamil film.”
His experience working with Ajith was both enlightening and amusing. Used to the informal industry culture of Mumbai, Raghu found himself in a peculiar situation when addressing the star. “In Mumbai and Delhi, when I started out at 20 years old, I was trained to call all my colleagues by their names. But down South, it can be seen as disrespectful.” Ajith, however, was happy with the informality. “When I met Ajith Kumar, he said, ‘Hi, Raghu,’ and I asked him, ‘Is it okay if I call you Ajith?’ He said, ‘Yeah, sure, man, I would love that.’ But whenever I called him Ajith, the set would go silent. People would stop what they were doing and look at us.” Eventually, he relented and started calling him “Ajith sir” for the comfort of the crew.
But what truly struck him about Ajith was his larger-than-life persona. “I started getting a little in awe of him when I realised that he was driving his own racing car. It’s like Bruce Wayne is so rich that he could hire someone to be Batman, but he chooses to be Batman himself.” Beyond his stardom, Ajith’s outlook towards life resonated deeply with Raghu. “The biggest thing I picked up from him is to not let societal expectations limit or define you. He doesn’t need to prove anything — he just is.”
Raghu Ram
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
The Adhik experience
If working with Ajith was an experience in industry culture, collaborating with director Adhik Ravichandran was a crash course in adapting to a unique creative process. “I can confidently say that working with Adhik will be different from working with any other director. It’s a unique experience, and I’m sure it will never be replicated.”
Adhik’s approach is highly spontaneous, often finalising dialogues on the day of the shoot. For a non-native Tamil speaker like Raghu, this added a layer of challenge. “It’s okay for everybody else, but for me, it is slightly difficult. I used to beg, ‘Please give me the dialogues in advance.’ But Adhik would joke, ‘Sir, you’re not working here; you’re on vacation.’” Yet, Raghu acknowledges that this spontaneity brings a freshness to the performances. “There’s an energy to his filmmaking. It jumps out of the screen.”
The road ahead
As someone who has transitioned from producer to actor, Raghu approaches his roles with a writer’s mindset. “Writers have a different language,” he says. “When I talk to writer-directors like Nelson and Adhik, I listen to cues about how they’ve written the characters. It helps me gain insights into the role.”
His ability to empathise with even the most negative characters is a testament to his commitment. “As an actor and a writer, you cannot judge a character. You have to empathise with them and find their humanity,” he explains. This philosophy was evident in Doctor, where he played a child abductor. “We couldn’t just play villains; we had to find the humanity in them.”
Raghu is also venturing into screenwriting, drawing inspiration from the filmmakers he has worked with. “Every director is also an actor in a way. When they direct me, I pick up on their movements, their vision.”
As he waits for the release of Good, Bad, Ugly, Raghu Ram is no longer just a reality TV icon or a reluctant actor. He is fully embracing the art of storytelling — on and off screen.
Published – March 18, 2025 07:39 pm IST
