T. S. Raghavendra – Tamil Singer-Actor

T. S. Raghavendra (19 September 1945 – 30 January 2020) was a veteran artist belonging to Tamil film industry. He was a well-known actor, singer and a seasonal music composer too. His character as Revathy’s father in iconic romantic tragedy, Vaidehi Kathirunthal is memorable. He has also worked in a few television shows. Noted Tamil playback singer Kalpana Raghavendar, and Opera singer Shekinah Shawn (born Prasanna Raghavendar) are his daughters. His wife Sulochana is also a singer.

Raghavendra was born into a musical family

Raghavendra’s family carries music tradition for many generations. His wife and two daughters are associated with music and singing. T. S. Raghavendra is also a trained Carnatic singer, who has done playback singing in films apart from composing music for a few. Raghavendra entered film industry in the 1980s, and did several memorable character roles on silver screen aside singing.

Vaidehi Kathirunthal – the romantic drama film released in 1984 marked his acting debut

Till now, T. S is best remembered for his debut film, though his role was brief. He also marked his playback singing through Azhagu Malarada song of the same movie. After that he started doing bit roles and slowly moved to memorable character roles. He was mostly active towards late 1980s and early 1990s, and was seen in Sindhu Bhairavi, Vikram, Karpoora Mullai, Anbe Shivam, Nee Varuva Ena, Chinna Thambi Periya Thambi etc.

He also appeared in Amala and Sridevi starrer Malayalam-Tamil bilingual, Ente Sooryaputhrikku. He mostly portrayed father kind of roles and was last seen in Pon Megalai released in 2005. He composed music for Uyir, Padikkatha Paadam and Yaaga Saalai. He was known for blending traditional Carnatic influences with cinematic styles.