Captain Raju


Raju Daniel, better known by his stage name Captain Raju, was an Indian army officer and actor. He acted in more than 600 films in various languages, including Malayalam, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and English. He was best known for his performances in character roles, and as a villain. He also appeared in television serials and advertisements.

Personal life

He was the third of the seven children of K. G. Daniel and Annamma, and was born at Omallur. He has four sisters named Elizabeth, Saji, Sophy, Sudha and two brothers, George and Mohan. Both his parents were teachers at Govt. UP School Omalloor. He had his primary education from Govt. UP School Omalloor and NSS English Medium School, Omalloor. He was a volleyball player. He pursued a degree in Zoology from Catholicate College, Pathanamthitta. After graduation, Raju joined the Indian Army as an officer at the age of 21 and rose to the rank of a captain. He worked as marketing chief at glucose and starch manufacturing company, Lakshmi Starch, at Mumbai after serving 5 years of Indian army and later he left the job to act in films. While working at the company, he started acting in amateur drama troupes like Prathiba theatres in Mumbai. He later moved to films. He made his directorial debut with the Malayalam film Etha Oru Snehagatha in 1997. His second film as director was Mr. Pavanayi 99.99 in which he reprised the role of Mr. Pavanayi, his character from the 1987 Malayalam film Nadodikkattu.
He was married to Prameela, and had a son, Ravi. He was a Christian by birth, but also respected other religions, and even visited the others' shrines.
He was a native of Puthenpeedika, Pathanamthitta.
He was observed very dynamic and vibrant during his childhood.
He was also an active member of St. George Orthodox Church, Palarivattom.
His parents' wish was to see him become a Priest, about which he expressed at several places.
He was a staunch Orthodox believer and his contributions for the Church and the society are noteworthy.

Death

A healthy, strong man during his youth, who gave increased importance to fitness, thanks to his military career, Raju's health was severely affected by a car accident, which occurred in October 2003 near Thrissur. He was seriously injured, and was hospitalised for a long period. Though he survived, he lost the vision in his left eye, and also had problems with walking. Still he was active in films and public.
During his last days, Raju suffered from various ailments like diabetes and hypertension. He had a heart attack in 2015, for which he had treatment. He suffered a massive stroke during a plane journey to New York on 25 June 2018, and was admitted to a hospital in Muscat. He was brought back to Kochi for further treatment, and later left to his home. He died aged 68 in the morning of 17 September 2018 at his residence in Palarivattom, Kochi. He was buried with full state honours at Puthenpeedika St. Mary's Orthodox Church, Pathanamthitta on 21 September.

Filmography

As actor

English

;Serials
;Shows