Rahman
Rahman seen in a film shoot
Born	Rashin Rahman (1967-05-23)23 May 1967 (age 58) Abu Dhabi,Trucial States
Other names	Raghu
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1983–present
Spouse	Meherunnisa ​ (m. 1993)​
Children	2

Rashin Rahman (born 23 May 1967), commonly known by his surnameRahman, is an Indian actor. He has worked in around 200 films, primarily inMalayalam cinema, in addition toTamil,Hindi andTelugu cinema, and has won several awards.^[1] In Tamil and Telugu cinema, he is also known by the screen namesRaghuman andRaghu.

He made his acting debut inKoodevide (1983), for which he won his firstKerala State Film Award for Second Best Actor. He was a popularteen idol in Malayalam cinema during the 1980s, which heightened his stardom in Malayalam film industry. He eventually shifted to playing lead roles in Tamil andTelugu films during the late 1980s and early 1990s. He made a comeback to Malayalam films in 2004.^[2]

Rahman was born on 23 May 1967 inAbu Dhabi. His family originally hails fromNilambur,Kerala, India. He is eldest of two children of K. M. A. Rahman and Savithri. He has a younger sister Shameema.^[3] He was educated at Merryland Kindergarten, Abu Dhabi andBaldwin Boys' High School,Bangalore,St Joseph's School in Abu Dhabi and Rex Higher Secondary School, Ooty and pursued a pre-university degree atDr. Gafoor Memorial MES Mampad College,Mampad-Malappuram.^[4]

In 1983, Rahman, while still in high school inOoty, was spotted by noted Malayalam directorPadmarajan who offered him the lead role in his filmKoodevide. The film became a big hit and the teenager became an instant sensation. He was well appreciated for his acting and went on to win theKerala State Award for Second Best Actor in his debut role at the age of 16. In 1984, he acted inKaliyil Alpam Karyam directed bySathyan Anthikad andIthiri Poove Chuvannapoove byBharathan. He won critical acclaim and awards for the performance in the latter. In the same year, he acted inKanamarayathu directed byI.V. Sasi, which went on to become a critical and commercial success. The songOru Madhurakinavin, which is picturised on him andShobana, became very popular and was a chartbuster all over Kerala. It is considered an iconic dance number inMalayalam cinema even today.

In the same year, he acted in Padmarajan'sParannu Parannu Parannu alongsideRohini. He was then seen in I. V. Sasi's thriller filmUyarangalil,Adiyozhukkukal andK. S. Sethumadhavan's family dramaAriyaatha Veethikal. He then acted in another film of Sathyan Anthikad titledAduthaduthu, andJ. Sasikumar'sIvide Thudangunnu alongsideRohini.

In the first half of 1985, he acted inKandu Kandarinju, I. V. Sasi'sAngadikkappurathu, andUpaharam. By this time Rahman had gained a huge fan base and stardom in Malayalam film industry.^[5] He was then seen in Sajan'sThammil Thammil alongsideShobana,Ee Lokam Evide Kure Manushyar andOrikkal Oridathu alongside Rohini. In the second half of 1985, he starred in romantic filmIvide Ee Theerathu,Ente Kaanakkuyil,Koodum Thedi andKatha Ithuvare. Then he acted inEeran Sandhya,Ee Thanalil Ithiri Nerum andPriyadarshan'sPunnaram Cholli Cholli, all of which went on to become commercially successful. In 1986, he acted in I. V. Sasi's super hit filmVartha along withMammootty,Mohanlal andSeema and a cameo appearance inAayiram Kannukal. Then, he went on to act in the title role of Nathan inEnnu Nathante Nimmi. He acted inChilambu directed byBharathan, which is a martial arts movie and it went on to become big hit at the box office.^[6] His next release of the year wasPoomukhappadiyil Ninneyum Kaathu,Koodanayum Kattu,Pappan Priyappetta Pappan andP. Padmarajan's crime thrillerKariyilakkattu Pole.^[7]

In 1987, he starred in I. V. Sasi's family dramaIthrayum Kaalam and Sathyan Anthikad directorialGaayathridevi Ente Amma along withSeema. His next release wasAankiliyude Tharattu which was also dubbed intoTamil language. His first release of 1988 wasMoonnam Pakkam, asentimentaldrama film directed by Padmarajan and thenMukthi by I. V. Sasi. Then, he played dual roles in thethriller filmCharithram which was commercially and critically appreciated.^{[citation needed]} Then, he acted inKaalal Pada along withJayaram andSuresh Gopi. He acted in the films of almost all the major Malayalam directors at that time including Padmarajan, Bharathan, and I. V. Sasi. He was absent from the Malayalam film industry in the early 1990s as he concentrated on Tamil and Telugu films.

He had only one release in Malayalam during 1990,Veena Meettiya Vilangukal directed byCochin Haneefa. After a long absence, he acted inMazhavilkoodaram,King Soloman andHitlist during the early 1990s. He came back with the movieDreams, playing the role of a police officer. In 2004, he acted inBlack, alongside Mammootty. During 2005 and 2006 he acted in films such asRajamanikyam,Mahasamudram andBhargavacharitham Moonam Khandam. He had four Malayalam film releases in 2007,Abraham & Lincoln andNanma, along withKalabhavan Mani. He then acted in directorKamal's filmGoal andRanjith'sRock & Roll. In 2008, he did a cameo role inVeruthe oru Bharya. In 2009, he acted inMoss & Cat, directed byFazil withDileep as his co-star andBharya Onnu Makkal Moonnu.

Rahman then appeared in the filmKerala Cafe, in the segment titled "Island Express", under the directorShankar RamaKrishnan.Musafir, produced by Pramod Pappan, is one of Rahman's biggest productions and most expensive ventures to date. Then in 2011, he acted inTraffic, amulti-narrativeroadthriller film written by his friendsBobby and Sanjay.^[8] His next theatrical release wasManjadikuru written and directed byAnjali Menon.^[9][10] In 2012, he acted inBachelor Party, agangsterdramafilm directed byAmal Neerad.^[11]

He was then seen in one of the lead roles along withPrithviraj Sukumaran andJayasurya in the 2013 filmMumbai Police. Penned by Bobby and Sanjay and directed byRosshan Andrrews, it was a huge financial success in Kerala.^[12] In 2015, he played the lead role inLavender written byAnoop Menon.^[13] He then starred in the 2016 filmMarupadi directed byV.M. Vinu.^[14][15]

In 2018, he featured in the action thriller filmRanam along with Prithviraj Sukumaran and was appreciated for his performance as a drug lord.^[16][17][18] In 2019, he starred inVirus, amedical thriller film directed byAashiq Abu set against the backdrop of the2018 Nipah virus outbreak in Kerala.^[19]

He also acted for the graphic novel style newspaper movie 'Locked Inn' published inmalayala manorama newspaper in 2020 along withJayasurya.^[20]

Rahman's first Tamil film wasNilave Malare, which was released in 1986; the director of the film wasS. A. Chandrasekhar. He subsequently appeared inKanne Kaniyamuthe,Vasantha Raagam andAnbulla Appa (withSivaji Ganeshan).

In 1999, he acted in the Tamil filmSangamam, directed bySuresh Krishna, which depicts the feud between classical and folk dance. The music of the film was composed byA. R. Rahman. The Tamil filmEthiri (2004) was the first film Rahman dubbed for in his own voice. In 2005, after a long gap in Telugu, Rahman acted inDhairyam (2005), a film that was well received. Rahman then performed in the Tamil filmsRaam andThoothukudi, which were released in 2005 and 2006 respectively. He played the villain inBilla (2007), and reprised his role as the main antagonist in the Telugu filmof the same name, released in 2009.

After his debut withSuhasini as the heroine, he worked with her again after a gap of 25 years for the Tamil movie,Balam (2009).^[21] His next filmVaamanan, directed by Ahmed (who has worked as assistant to director Kathir), did well throughoutSouth India. Rahman's next Telugu filmSimha was released worldwide on 30 April 2010. It went on to become the highest grosser of 2010, and the 5th highest-grossing movie in the Telugu Film Industry. He then appeared inOosaravelli andVanthaan Vendraan. In 2014, he acted as the protagonist's father in the movieGovindudu Andarivadele, directed byKrishna Vamsi. In 2016, he starred in the Tamil-language thriller filmDhuruvangal Pathinaaru. He also played the main roles inPagadi Aattam (2017) andOru Mugathirai (2017). He playedMadhurantakan in the historical fiction epic drama,Ponniyin Selvan: I (2022) directed byMani Ratnam.^[22]

Rahman won the State Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in his first film,Koodevide. He also won the Film Critics Award and Chamber Award for this role.

In 1984, he won the Kerala Film Chamber Award for Best Actor for the filmIthiri Poove Chuvanna Poove.

Rahman won the Trendsetter Award in Malayalam cinema at the Etisalat Everest Film awards held in Dubai in 2007. The public voted for Rahman from nominees includingKamal Haasan,Sreedevi,Manju Warrier andNadhiya.

Rahman's Malayalam filmManjadikkuru, directed by Anjali Menon, won two awards at the 2008 International Film Festival in Kerala.

• Kerala State Film Awards:Second Best Actor –Koodevide (1983)
• Kerala Film Critics Award for Second Best Actor –Ithiri Poove Chuvanna Poove (1984)
• Kerala Film Chamber Award for Best Actor –Ithiri Poove Chuvanna Poove (1984)
• Award for Trendsetter in the history of Malayalam cinema's 78 years at the Etisalat Everest Film awards held in Dubai – 2007
• Padmarajan Award for Lifetime Achievement – 2015
• Asianet Film Award for Best Actor in Negative Role –Ranam (2018)

Wikimedia Commons has media related toRahman (actor).

• Rahman atIMDb

• People from Malappuram district
• Male actors from Kerala
• Kerala State Film Award winners
• Living people
• 1967 births
• Male actors in Malayalam cinema
• Indian male film actors
• Male actors in Tamil cinema
• Male actors in Telugu cinema
• Indian Muslims
• 20th-century Indian male actors
• 21st-century Indian male actors
• Film people from Kerala
• Malayali people

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