Known by colleagues and fans as Raghavan Master, he shot to fame through the 1950s hit 'Neelakkuyil,' an early realistic film jointly directed by Ramu Karyat and P Bhaskaran. Raghavan himself had sung one of the movie's most famous songs. He had been working in the industry for more than five decades. He has since rendered music for more than 400 films, including milestone Malayalam films such as 'Nirmalyam,' 'Utharayanam,' 'Nagaramendi,' 'Unniyarcha,' 'Ramanan' and 'Kallichellamma.'
His collaboration with the lyricist P Bhaskaran resulted in a large number of hits that helped many films become major hits in the 1960s and 70s.
He was the recipient of many honors, including the highest award for film honor J C Daniel from Kerala State and Padma Shree