"The idea had been with me for a long time," Hasif says. The seed was planted as early as 2015, and after years of research, the project finally went into production post-pandemic. "It is not easy...with a regular movie, you know where to start, where to stop, and where to place the interval. But this is someone’s life. And he’s no longer with us, so we had to be very careful," 

The teaser for the docufilm Raghuvaran: A Star That Defied Time dropped on March 19, the actor’s 17th death anniversary. It didn’t take long for fans and cinephiles to rally behind it, as a long-overdue tribute to an actor whose legacy still lingers is all set for digital release. At the helm is Hasif Abida Hakeem, a 36-year-old documentary portraitist and photographer from Kerala, who makes his debut as producer, director, and cinematographer with this ambitious project.

Since interviews form the backbone of the documentary, Hasif and his team had to dig deep to "find the right people... those who truly knew Raghuvaran." Known for being reserved and often labeled a recluse, Raghuvaran wasn’t someone who mingled much—making the process of gathering material all the more challenging. Still, the documentary features intimate accounts from those who knew him best: family, close friends, and industry colleagues like Nassar, Nizhalgal Ravi, Suresh Krissna, N. Lingusamy, Rohini, and others. He also teases a surprise cameo but prefers to keep that detail under wraps...for now.

The debutant director, who hails from Alappuzha, admits to being an ardent admirer of Raghuvaran since childhood. For him, it was a no-brainer to invest his time, money, and energy into a debut project centered on the actor who was known for his charisma, quiet intensity, and rich baritone that needs no face to be recognised.

Raghuvaran as the eccentric cop Tony Leous in Vyooham (1990) is Hasif’s first memory of the actor. "I was watching television after school... his introduction scene is still fresh and imprinted in my subconscious. The moment I saw him on screen, I wondered, ‘How is Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) in a Malayalam movie?’" he recalls, not knowing then that one day, he’d end up making a docufilm about the very actor he was watching.

"Choosing the subject came naturally," he says. What fascinated him most about Raghuvaran? Hasif says there wasn’t one specific thing that drew him to make this docufilm. "It was everything — the actor, his life, his journey. How passionate he was, how successful, how hardworking — and at one point, how lonely he became."

"Though certain parts of his life remain clouded in mystery, still...for me, the versatility of events is what makes it a beautiful narrative. He was the person who went with the flow." Gushing excitedly, he furthers, "He was a cut above the rest...looked so different from his contemporaries in the South. His tall frame, voice, style...all of it put together made him very pop-cultish. He demands your attention whenever he is in the frame."

Research aside, Hasif shares that having actor friends with whom he’s worked for over a decade helped him shape the docufilm more intimately. “I’ve seen them struggle, slog day and night. No matter how much money, success, or fame they get… at the end of the day, they’re all just human beings.” He adds, “They’re constantly under pressure to do better—for the love of their fans, for the audience, to be on top of the game. Being an actor, I feel, is like living in a golden cage. And fame? It cages them forever. There’s no escape from it.”

Hasif says he really enjoyed recreating the swag and style in the fictionalised segment of the docufilm. He adds that he found an actor whose look closely resembles that of Raghuvaran. Speaking emotionally and enthusiastically about a moment that’s etched in his memory from the making of the documentary, he recalls:

“There’s this moment — I had fixed the frame, the guy was in costume, sitting in position, and I wanted his hair a certain way. So I went and adjusted it. When I came back and looked at the frame… I was shocked. It was a beautiful sequence, one of my favourites — he’s just sitting there, watching the screen…”

Hasif abruptly stops and, with a laugh, says, “…shouldn't be revealing more than this.”

It’s been almost two decades since Raghuvaran's passing. He began his journey on the small screen with Oru Manithanin Kathai, eventually becoming one of South India’s most sought-after villains. Over the course of a career that spanned more than twenty years, he appeared in around 200 films across Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, and Hindi. His performances in films like Mudhalvan, Baasha, Shiva, Anjali, and more are unforgettable. But after all these years, what is it about Raghuvaran’s story that would still captivate audiences?

"If you see the title, it means exactly what it says: he is timeless. If I had made this film five years ago or ten years from now, the title would remain the same. Some people aren't meant to be bound by time. Their appeal goes beyond it."

“Before uploading the teaser, I was very concerned about the connection,” says the creator. “I had all sorts of apprehensions. So for my own analytics, I released the teaser. Just to understand, without any promotions, any jugaad that happens in the industry, how far Raghuvaran can go organically."

The response overwhelmed the debutant. The teaser has now crossed a million views across platforms. But what truly astonished him was the data: over 12% of the viewers were aged between 16 and 18, people who weren’t even born when Raghuvaran was alive.

He reflects on the generational divide in how Raghuvaran might be received today. “There is this generation that will be watching him through preconceived notions, with prejudice-tinted glasses. Then there's our generation, who will be watching him for the talent he was—and Gen Z, for whom he could be a revelation, a discovery.”

Hasif opines that for any budding filmmaker, the story of Raghuvaran is a goldmine. It has all the elements, emotions, and narrative arcs of a compelling story that could easily be commercialised. And that’s precisely why he chose to self-produce the project.

"Being a producer gives me creative freedom," he says. "I don't have to drag out certain sensitive phases of someone's life or paint an ugly picture of a situation just for the sake of drama that would fetch views. I'm against that ruthless, unethical kind of intrusion. Right from the beginning, the one thing I knew was that I had to be truthful without being cruel."

Wouldn’t that risk whitewashing the person, though?

“There will be many people sharing what they know about the actor,” he explains. “At the same time, the fictionalised version will also have the actor putting across his perspective—what was going on in his mind...in his life. I think my job is done there. I’ll leave it to the audience to interpret.”

He adds, “What you’ll see in my documentary is not just Raghuvaran the actor, the celebrated villain. You’re also going to see Raghuvaran, the human being. I simply peel back one layer of the performer, and what you’ll find beneath is a beautiful, amazing person.”

"Raghuvaran: A Star That Defied Time is a tribute... and of course, a treat for fans, who will see him on screen once again: as the young man, the middle-aged star, and someone who was still far from old when he passed away. You will witness the phases of his life, each evoking a different emotion."

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