# Captain Raju
**Captain Raju** was the stage name of **Raju Daniel** (1950 – 17 September 2018), an Indian actor, director and former [Indian Army](https://www.edgepedia.org/indian-army) officer who worked predominantly in [Malayalam cinema](https://www.edgepedia.org/malayalam-cinema) and appeared in more than 500 films in Malayalam, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and English.[1](https://www.onmanorama.com/entertainment/entertainment-news/2018/09/17/captain-raju-malayalam-movies-actor-roles-obit.html) He was best known for villain and character roles, and his comic assassin Pavanayi in *Nadodikkattu* (1987) attained cult status in Kerala.[1](https://www.onmanorama.com/entertainment/entertainment-news/2018/09/17/captain-raju-malayalam-movies-actor-roles-obit.html) • [2](https://www.outlookindia.com/art-entertainment/aye-aye-captain-news-316746)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Full name | Raju Daniel; stage name Captain Raju, taken from his Indian Army rank[1](https://www.onmanorama.com/entertainment/entertainment-news/2018/09/17/captain-raju-malayalam-movies-actor-roles-obit.html) |
| Born | 1950 in Omallur, Pathanamthitta, Kerala, India[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/captain_raju) |
| Died | 17 September 2018 in Kochi, Kerala, after a stroke suffered on a flight to the United States that June[4](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0707490) • [2](https://www.outlookindia.com/art-entertainment/aye-aye-captain-news-316746) |
| Military service | Joined the Indian Army as a second lieutenant at age 21, rose to Captain, and took early retirement[1](https://www.onmanorama.com/entertainment/entertainment-news/2018/09/17/captain-raju-malayalam-movies-actor-roles-obit.html) • [2](https://www.outlookindia.com/art-entertainment/aye-aye-captain-news-316746) |
| Output | More than 500 films plus about 10 television serials; 176 Malayalam films listed by the database Malayala Chalachithram[1](https://www.onmanorama.com/entertainment/entertainment-news/2018/09/17/captain-raju-malayalam-movies-actor-roles-obit.html) • [5](https://www.malayalachalachithram.com/movieslist.php?a=1881) |
| Signature role | The comical contract killer Pavanayi in *Nadodikkattu* (1987), with the still-quoted dialogue "Pavanayi Shavamayi"[2](https://www.outlookindia.com/art-entertainment/aye-aye-captain-news-316746) |
| Directing | *Etha Oru Snehagatha* (1997), on inter-religious love, was his directorial debut; a planned sequel to his Pavanayi character was never released[2](https://www.outlookindia.com/art-entertainment/aye-aye-captain-news-316746) |
## Life and military career
Raju was born in Omallur in Pathanamthitta district, Kerala, one of seven children of Daniel, a school headmaster, and Annamma, a teacher.[1](https://www.onmanorama.com/entertainment/entertainment-news/2018/09/17/captain-raju-malayalam-movies-actor-roles-obit.html) He completed a BSc in zoology at Catholicate College, then saw a newspaper advertisement for graduates in the Army's Short Service Commission and applied. In an interview he recalled: "I spent six years in the Army and became a captain."[6](https://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/malayalam/2009/Jul/25/oh-captain-my-captain-71125.html) He joined as a second lieutenant at 21 and left the force as a Captain, later taking early retirement to try his hand at films.[1](https://www.onmanorama.com/entertainment/entertainment-news/2018/09/17/captain-raju-malayalam-movies-actor-roles-obit.html) • [2](https://www.outlookindia.com/art-entertainment/aye-aye-captain-news-316746) During his service he married Premila Varghese, who had grown up in Mumbai.[6](https://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/malayalam/2009/Jul/25/oh-captain-my-captain-71125.html)
**Screen beginnings.** His first acting experience came on the Mumbai stage.[1](https://www.onmanorama.com/entertainment/entertainment-news/2018/09/17/captain-raju-malayalam-movies-actor-roles-obit.html) According to *Outlook*, before his Malayalam break he faced the camera in an unreleased Hindi film opposite Tariq of *Yaadon Ki Baraat* in 1980, playing the supporting hero.[2](https://www.outlookindia.com/art-entertainment/aye-aye-captain-news-316746) His Malayalam cinema debut was *Raktham* (1981), directed by Joshiy.[1](https://www.onmanorama.com/entertainment/entertainment-news/2018/09/17/captain-raju-malayalam-movies-actor-roles-obit.html)
## Villain and character roles
In his early years it was as a villain that Captain Raju made his presence felt, becoming a regular fixture in the films of IV Sasi in the 1980s.[2](https://www.outlookindia.com/art-entertainment/aye-aye-captain-news-316746) A brief turn as hero came in 1983 with *Rathilayam*, produced by the veteran actor Madhu and directed by P Chandrakumar, with [Silk Smitha](https://www.edgepedia.org/silk-smitha) in the female lead.[1](https://www.onmanorama.com/entertainment/entertainment-news/2018/09/17/captain-raju-malayalam-movies-actor-roles-obit.html) • [2](https://www.outlookindia.com/art-entertainment/aye-aye-captain-news-316746)
**Signature roles.** Several performances stood out in a career of typecasting as villain or police inspector:
- Satyaraj, the antagonist opposite Mammootty's Inspector Balram in the 1986 hit *Aavanazhi*, the role credited with his Malayalam breakthrough.[7](https://malayalam.filmibeat.com/features/av-fardis-artcle-about-actor-captain-raju-046115.html) • [2](https://www.outlookindia.com/art-entertainment/aye-aye-captain-news-316746)
- Pavanayi, the comical professional assassin of *Nadodikkattu* (1987), which made him a household name; the dialogue "Pavanayi Shavamayi" remained popular across generations.[2](https://www.outlookindia.com/art-entertainment/aye-aye-captain-news-316746)
- The nameless anti-hero in the 1988 thriller *[August 1](https://www.edgepedia.org/august-1-1988-film)*, loosely based on *The Day of the [Jackal](https://www.edgepedia.org/jackal-the-day-of-the-jackal)* (1973), a poker-faced assassin hired to kill the Kerala Chief Minister in a cat-and-mouse game with Mammootty's hero.[2](https://www.outlookindia.com/art-entertainment/aye-aye-captain-news-316746)
- Aringodar Chekavar in *[Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha](https://www.edgepedia.org/oru-vadakkan-veeragatha)* (1989), scripted by M T Vasudevan Nair and directed by Hariharan; the same team later cast him as Unni Mootha in *Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja* (2009).[1](https://www.onmanorama.com/entertainment/entertainment-news/2018/09/17/captain-raju-malayalam-movies-actor-roles-obit.html)
- Detective Karamchand in the slapstick comedy *C.I.D. Moosa* (2003), which drew appreciation in his later smaller roles.[2](https://www.outlookindia.com/art-entertainment/aye-aye-captain-news-316746)
**Leaving villainy behind.** Raju disliked negative roles personally, and wept when he had to act scenes like murder; he said he firmly decided to quit such roles when his mother died, because she disliked seeing him play them.[1](https://www.onmanorama.com/entertainment/entertainment-news/2018/09/17/captain-raju-malayalam-movies-actor-roles-obit.html) The decision marked a turning point: audiences accepted him quickly in character and comic parts, and television serials made him a favorite of drawing-room audiences, with about 10 serials to his credit.[1](https://www.onmanorama.com/entertainment/entertainment-news/2018/09/17/captain-raju-malayalam-movies-actor-roles-obit.html)
## Directing and later career
In 1997 Raju turned producer-director with *Itha Oru Snehagatha* (*Etha Oru Snehagatha*), a film on inter-religious love starring the then struggling Vikram, with Laila and Captain Raju himself as a priest.[2](https://www.outlookindia.com/art-entertainment/aye-aye-captain-news-316746) • [4](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0707490) The film did poorly at the box office and was dubbed into Tamil five years later, after Vikram found success in Kollywood.[2](https://www.outlookindia.com/art-entertainment/aye-aye-captain-news-316746)
A road accident in Thrissur in 2003, while he was traveling to the location of Vinayan's *War and Love*, left him with a brain injury and physical ailments that troubled him periodically, though he kept working.[2](https://www.outlookindia.com/art-entertainment/aye-aye-captain-news-316746) His career declined from the start of the new millennium into smaller roles with less screen time, but he made an imprint even in older-character parts; [Mammootty](https://www.edgepedia.org/mammootty), against whom he had played the villain in the 1980s, was cast as his son in *Nazrani* (2007).[2](https://www.outlookindia.com/art-entertainment/aye-aye-captain-news-316746) In 2012 he began directing *Mister Pavanayi 99.99*, a return of his most-loved character with himself in the title role; despite completed shooting and post-production, the film remained unreleased.[1](https://www.onmanorama.com/entertainment/entertainment-news/2018/09/17/captain-raju-malayalam-movies-actor-roles-obit.html) • [2](https://www.outlookindia.com/art-entertainment/aye-aye-captain-news-316746)
## Death and legacy
Captain Raju died on 17 September 2018 in Kochi, at age 68, after prolonged hospitalisation following a stroke he suffered mid-air while en route to the United States that June.[2](https://www.outlookindia.com/art-entertainment/aye-aye-captain-news-316746) • [4](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0707490) He had made a brief cameo as himself in the 2017 Mammootty film *Masterpiece* but had been inactive in movies since 2015.[2](https://www.outlookindia.com/art-entertainment/aye-aye-captain-news-316746)
His frequent collaborators underline how embedded he was in the industry: he appeared with the comedian [Jagathy Sreekumar](https://www.edgepedia.org/jagathy-sreekumar) in 28 films between 1983 and 2011, with Mammootty in 24, and with Mohanlal in 20.[8](https://cinegraph.org/people/captain-raju) Obituarists noted that although he was hard to slot into the pantheon of Malayalam stars, his towering frame, baritone voice and screen presence made him, in the words of *Outlook*, indispensable to many films and more integral to them than the actors playing the leads.[2](https://www.outlookindia.com/art-entertainment/aye-aye-captain-news-316746)
## References
1. [Captain Raju refused negative roles after his mother's demise, Onmanorama (2018)](https://www.onmanorama.com/entertainment/entertainment-news/2018/09/17/captain-raju-malayalam-movies-actor-roles-obit.html)
2. [Aye Aye, Captain, Outlook India (2018)](https://www.outlookindia.com/art-entertainment/aye-aye-captain-news-316746)
3. [Captain Raju Movies List, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/captain_raju)
4. [Captain Raju, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0707490)
5. [List of Malayalam Movies acted by Captain Raju, Malayala Chalachithram](https://www.malayalachalachithram.com/movieslist.php?a=1881)
6. [Oh captain, my captain!, The New Indian Express (2009)](https://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/malayalam/2009/Jul/25/oh-captain-my-captain-71125.html)
7. [A V Fardis article about actor Captain Raju, Filmibeat Malayalam (2018)](https://malayalam.filmibeat.com/features/av-fardis-artcle-about-actor-captain-raju-046115.html)
8. [Captain Raju, Cinegraph](https://cinegraph.org/people/captain-raju)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Film people and crafts › Film actors and performers › Indian and South Asian film actors by industry and language › Malayalam film actors › Surnames L to R*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license