Gayathri Raguram

Career

Gayathri Raghuram started acting at fourteen. Early in her career, she insisted on being known by her full name to avoid confusion with another actress, Gayatri Jayaraman, who was also active in the period. Her debut film, Sakthi Chidambaram's comedy drama Charlie Chaplin (2002), featured her in an ensemble cast alongside Prabhu Deva, Prabhu and Abhirami. She was selected for the film after Gayatri Jayaraman had earlier opted out of the project. The film enjoyed commercial success, with a critic from The Hindu stating "the new heroine's expertise in dance is particularly impressive". In 2002, she appeared in three more films: the Kannada film Manasella Neene directed by choreographer Sundaram, the Tamil film Style alongside choreographer Raghava Lawrence and the Malayalam film, Nakshathrakkannulla Rajakumaran Avanundoru Rajakumari, where she starred opposite Prithviraj. Her four consequent releases in 2003 fared less well at the box office and failed to garner her more film offers. In concern of her performance in the horror film Whistle (2003), a critic from The Hindu wrote "Gayathri Raghuram's face is beautiful and her expressions are just right but rotundity seems to come in the way of wholesome appeal". Likewise, a critic wrote "Gayathri, as the garrulous friend of the hero, begins well, and even when you think she might have a solid role to play, she turns out to be just another weighty heroine in tow", in regard of her appearance in the Arjun-starrer Parasuram (2003). Subsequently, she quit films and relocated to pursue a qualification in Visual Communications in Iowa, USA.

Gayathri returned to the film industry in 2008 as a choreographer with films like Jayam Kondaan (2008) and Poi Solla Porom (2008) and has since worked in big budget productions including Madrasapattinam (2010), Deiva Thirumagal (2013), Osthe (2011) and Anjaan (2014). Her work in the crime thriller Kanthaswamy (2009) and the satire Tamil Padam (2010) were well received by critics. By 2014, she had choreographed around 100 films and has regularly specialised in working on romantic montages.

She made a return as an actress in Vai Raja Vai (2015) at the insistence of her friend Aishwarya Dhanush by portraying the sister of the film's lead character Gautham Karthik. Likewise, she made an extended guest appearance in director Bala's village drama Tharai Thappattai (2016), where she also featured in a karakattam-based song. After announcing her intentions of directing a film in 2012, she began work on her first directorial venture Yaadhumagi Nindraai during 2016.

In 2017, Gayathri was a contestant on the Tamil reality show Bigg Boss hosted by Kamal Haasan. She was evicted from the show on day 56, after having attracted widespread criticism for her behaviour inside the Bigg Boss House. In particular, her constant harassment and bullying of contestants Bharani, Julie and then Oviya were widely criticised. A police complaint was filed against her for using derogatory words and hurting the sentiment of others, while on the show..

Personal life

Gayathri was born as the second daughter to dance choreographers Raghuram and Girija Raghuram. Her elder sister Suja is a prominent dancer, who has also previously worked as an actress. She is the great grand-daughter of director Krishnaswami Subrahmanyam. Her mother, Girija comes from a family of choreographers, which includes Brinda and Kala. In August 2006, Gayathri had an arranged marriage with US-based software engineer Deepak Chandrasekar in California, and the pair subsequently held a Hindu ceremony in December 2006 which was attended by several actors and politicians from Tamil Nadu. In 2008, Gayathri filed for divorce on the grounds of domestic abuse from Deepak and his parents. The divorce was subsequently granted in 2010.

In November 2015, Gayathri was appointed as Bharatiya Janata Party's secretary for arts in Tamil Nadu. She had earlier joined the party in 2014 in the presence of BJP president Amit Shah.

Filmography