MM Ramachandran, popularly known as Atlas Ramachandran, who passed away at  Bur Dubai Aster Mankhool Hospital late on Sunday night, was able to occupy a place in the minds of the people in India and abroad through the remarkable contributions he made in various fields.

He was known to the people not only as the owner of the chain of jewellery shops in India and Gulf countries and other business establishments, but also a personality who made rich contributions in the fields of art, film, literature and music.

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Atlas Ramachandran started his career as a banker in India before moving abroad to join the Commercial Bank of Kuwait. Ramchandran succeeded in turning his fortune after trying his luck in the jewellery business.

He started his gold jewellery business in 1981 when he bought two kilos of gold with whatever money he had in his hand. He established in three decades more than 75 outlets across India and abroad. From then on there was no looking back until his arrest by the Dubai Police in 2015.

When the CEO’s of the various companies were not prepared to lend their names, Ramachandran came out with a tagline, “Atlas Jewellery -Janakodikalude Vishwasthasthapanam” (Trusted by millions).

He ventured into real estate, health care and film distribution too. He produced many Malayalam movies and also acted in a dozen films.

Ramachandran produced and distributed films under the banner “Chandrakanth Films”.Including major films like Vaisali (1988) and Sukrutham (1994). Dhanam, Vasthuhara, Kauravar, Chakoram and  Innale .He also acted in Arabikatha, Subhadram, Anandabhairavi,  Malabar Wedding and 2 Harihar Nagar.

He produced around 23 films. He was also known as Vaisali Ramachandran due to the unmatched fame of his debut film ‘Vaisali’, an episode from Mahabharat.a He also directed a movie called Holy Days and organised aksharshloka sessions (competitions in poetry recital) in Dubai and Thrissur.

Dubai Police arrested him for failing to repay loans he had taken from banks in UAE. He served three years of imprisonment in Dubai and was released from prison in 2018. He was unable to return to India due to money he owed to banks.

In an interview to a national daily  in August, he recalled how his former managers had duped him which led to his arrest and prison term. A whopping 3,000 plus kilos of gold spread across 44 jewellery shops in the six Gulf Cooperation Council countries which were worth 740 million AED (Rs 1583.77 crores) had gone missing once he was released from prison, pushing him to penury.

He tried to relaunch his business but failed to find a partner who shared his vision. A few years back, he sold a hospital owned by him in Muscat to pay a portion of his debts. He was actively taking part in cultural events in Dubai and had plans to pay off his debts and return to Kerala.

He provided scholarships to students in Kerala and also to students in UAE Schools.

Kerala Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan condoled the death of businessman. “His contributions in business and cultural fields were enormous,” he said.