Ramachandra Raju

Ramachandra Raju (born 7 July 1980), better known as Garuda Ram, is an Indian actor who primarily appears in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films. He rose to fame for his role as the antagonist Garuda in KGF: Chapter 1^[2] and for his dominant screen presence.^[3]

Ramachandra Raju
Born	Ramchandra Raju 7 July 1980 (1980-07-07) (age 44) Bangalore, Karnataka, India
Other names	Garuda Ram[1]
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2018–present

Career

Prior to acting, Raju worked as Yash's bodyguard.^[3] Raju made his film debut K.G.F: Chapter 1 (2018), acting alongside Yash. He played the antagonist Garuda in the film and garnered acclaim for the role. This enabled him to get offers to play negative roles in several other films across the four South Indian languages.^[4]

Raju made his Tamil debut playing the antagonist in Sulthan (2021)^[5][6][7] and has acted in villain roles in Kodiyil Oruvan (2021) and Yaanai (2022).

Raju made his Telugu debut with Maha Samudram (2021) and his Malayalam debut with Aaraattu (2022).

Filmography

Key

†	Denotes film or TV productions that have not yet been released

List of film credits

Year	Title	Role(s)	Language(s)	Notes	Ref.
2018	KGF: Chapter 1	Garuda	Kannada		[5]
2021	Sulthan	Jayaseelan	Tamil		[5]
	Kodiyil Oruvan	Pedha Perumal			[8]
	Maha Samudram	Dhananjay	Telugu		[9]
	Madhagaja	Tandava	Kannada
	Rider	JD
2022	Aaraattu	Badai Raju	Malayalam		[10]
	Bheemla Nayak	Prisoner	Telugu	Cameo in title song
	KGF: Chapter 2	Garuda	Kannada	archival footage
	Bhala Thandanana	Anand Bali	Telugu
	Yaanai	Lingam, Pandi	Tamil	Dual role	[11]
2023	Red Sandalwood	Harimaran
	Salaar: Part 1 – Ceasefire	Rudra Raja Manaar	Telugu
2024	Aranmanai 4	Swami	Tamil		[12]
	Hit List	Kaali			[13]
	Bagheera	Rana	Kannada
	Zebra	Chief Minister	Telugu	Special appearance
2025	Badava	Valava	Tamil
	Vidyapati	Jaggu	Kannada		[14]

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Film	Result	Ref.
2019	Zee Kannada	Best Villain	K.G.F: Chapter 1	Won	[15]
2019	8th SIIMA Awards	Best Actor in a Negative Role	K.G.F: Chapter 1	Nominated	[16]
2022	10th SIIMA Awards	Best Actor in a Negative Role	Madhagaja	Nominated	[17]