In the year 1959, a film was released in the theatres that created a stir at the box office. The film is 'Madari' in which Ranjan (born as Ramanarayana Venkataramana Sarma), was seen in the lead role. Ranjan was a popular actor of his time but when he suddenly died in the year 1983, it shocked Indian film fans. Many reports claimed that invisible divine powers were behind his death. However, it is difficult to verify this.
Ranjan was born in March 1918 in Mylapore, Madras. He started acting while studying in college and began his career with the 1941 film 'Ashok Kumar', but he got recognition from the 1948 film 'Chandralekha'.
Ranjan also worked in many Bollywood films in the 1950s and 1960s. He played lead roles in Hindi films like 'Mangala', 'Sindbad the Sailor', 'Madaari', 'Bahot Din Huye', 'Swarna Sundari', 'Nishan', and 'Magic Carpet'.
Apart from this, he also did the Tamil film 'Neelamalai Thirudan' (1957), which proved to be a box office hit in that era. His last film 'Captain Ranjan' (1969) was a flop. After this, he did not get much opportunity to showcase his talents, especially after 1960 in Tamil films.
Though Ranjan acted in several Bollywood movies, his star faded by the end of 1967. Ranjan was the first man in the film industry to buy a Rolls Royce. He was also a trained licence holder pilot and owned his own plane.
It is said about Ranjan that he also had a connection with the world magician community. According to media reports, when Ranjan lived in Mumbai, he used to try to control invisible divine powers. But, he could not succeed in it. It was suspected that his death was due to these reasons.
Ranjan died of cardiac arrest at a New Jersey hotel in September 1983. He was 65 at that time.
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