Raghuvaran was an Indian actor who predominantly acted in movies made in South India. He became famous for his portrayal of villain and character roles in Tamil movies.

He has acted in more than 150 Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi films. The actor had carved a niche for himself with his special style and voice modulation and was considered a natural actor. He was noted for his stellar role as the protagonist of a Tamil soap opera, Oru Manidhanin Kadhai, about a well-to-do man who becomes an alcoholic. He received critical acclaim for his role as Father Alphonse in the Malayalam movie Daivathinte Vikruthikal, directed by Lenin Rajendran and based on a book by M. Mukundan with the same title.

He was born in 1958 at Kollengode in Palakkad district, Kerala. He was the grandson Mr. N. Radha Krishna Menon and Satyavathy Amma and son of Velayudhan and Kasturi.

He dropped out of his Bachelor of Arts from Coimbatore (Govt. Arts College) to pursue a career in acting. He landed a minor role in the Kannada film Swapna Thingalgal. He began acting in small minor roles in Telugu and Kannada films including a two-minute scene as a rapist in Udaya.

From 1979 to 1983, he was part of an acting drama troupe in Chennai, Chennai Kings, which also included the Kannada/Tamil supporting actor, Nassar. He was spotted and cast in a small role in Ezhavathu Manithan which was his biggest role to date.

He was married to the Telugu actress Rohini and has a son with her, Sai Rishivaran. The couple later separated and divorced.

Raghuvaran's substance addictions hampered his career and left him repeatedly visiting rehabilitation clinics.

Following his beginnings on the stage, Raghuvaran turned to film with 1982's Tamil film Elavathu Manithan (Seventh Man). He received several state and Filmfare Awards for his performances in Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu films. He began his career as a supporting actor in a number of films in Tamil including Mani Rathnam's Anjali as the father of an autistic child