R. Muthuraman (b. 1929 – 1982) was an actor who has performed in Tamil language film. He was a leading actor during the 60's and 70's and was fondly called Navarasa Thilakam. He has paired with all the leading heroines of his time and acted in over a hundred films. Muthuraman's son Karthik Muthuraman is also a Tamil actor and politician.
Born to a family that had no stage or acting links. In fact, he was the son of an advocate and his uncle was a police officer. However, the young Muthuraman was attracted towards films and the fine arts. He joined the field much later as he had to become a government employee due to family pressure.
In 1947, after finishing the Intermediate course, Muthuraman joined the famous Gemini Studios in an administrative job. However, it was only in 1952 when he was working with P.Orr & Sons in Chennai that he was spotted by director Ilangovan’s wife and though his good looks were noticed, he had to wait till 1957 to begin his acting career.
Muthuraman, was a stage actor in his early days, He joined veteran actor S.S.Rajendran's SSR Nataka Mandram and then Seva Stage and acted in numerous dramas, including Manimagudam, Muthumandapam, and Bharathiyar's poetic dramas.
He acted as Suppu, a simpleton in the film Thenthoosi, a film that starred Gemini Ganesan in the lead role. He went to play a few major roles and many secondary roles in about 100 movies in the sixties and seventies. Although, he was a player in an era dominated by stalwarts like MGR, Sivaji Ganesan and Gemini Ganesan, he made a name and place for himself as an extremely popular supporting actor. This handsome actor was known as Navarasa Thilakam.
He was paired with many heroines of the time including Devika, Jayalalitha, but his most constant heroine with whom he was paired for a record of 19 times was the actress Kanchana. He starred in many successful films of the times though mainly in supporting roles in movies like Kalyana Parisu, Kaadhalikka Neramillai and Server Sundaram.