THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: MM Ramachandran, popularly known as Atlas Ramachandran, 80, who passed away following a heart attack in Dubai late on Sunday night was laid to rest on Monday. Since he was confirmed with Covid infection, there was no public viewing. The funeral was held at 4pm UAE time in Dubai.
Condoling Ramachandran’s death, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that he was someone who was never reluctant to help the poor. Pinarayi also recalled that the businessman’s demise comes at a time when he was planning to return to his birthplace of Thrissur.
Ramachandran was admitted in the hospital with chest pain on Saturday night. His wife Indira and daughter Dr Manju were with him when he breathed his last. He is also survived by son Srikanth. His death happened at a time when he was gearing up to restart the defunct Atlas Jewellery chain. For quite some time, his WhatsApp status had been “Working hard to rebuild”. He had hogged headlines in August when he celebrated his 80th birthday with a small gathering of his friends at his apartment in Bur Dubai. He started his gold jewellery business in 1981 when he bought 2kg of gold with whatever money he had in his hand. From then on, there was no looking back. Atlas Jewellery group’s turnover during the year ending 2014 was $1 billion (Rs 7,912.82 crore).
His downfall in business, however, started in August 2015 itself and the banker-turned-businessman was arrested for the delay in the repayment of borrowings from banks. Two months later, he was sentenced to three years in prison by a Dubai court. The Atlas group had taken loans up to 550 million dirhams (approximately Rs 1,000 crore) and the sentence came in a case of two dishonoured cheques issued by the company. He alleged that his managers had not made the payment on time. He caught the public eye when he started appearing himself in the advertisements of his jewellery store chain delivering the tagline, “Janakodikalude Viswasthasthapanam” (the trusted establishment of crores of people). It made him a household name among Malayalis.
Having held several covetable positions like the chairman of Dubai Shopping Festival’s Gold Promotion Council, Dubai Gold and Jewellery Group secretary and getting the contract to set up Atlas Jewellery’s shop at Cochin International Airport Limited had not gone down well with his competitors in the trade.
He was the owner of Chandrakantham Films and had produced several films like ‘Vaishali’, ‘Kauravar’, ‘Chakoram’, ‘Innale’ and ‘Sukritham’ and also acted in ‘Arabikatha’, ‘Subhadram’, ‘Anandabhairavi’, ‘Malabar Wedding’ and ‘2 Harihar Nagar’. He had also directed a film, ‘Holidays’.
Atlas Ramachandran’s riches-to-rags story was a sought-after topic in top business schools in the country including Indian Institute of Management, Bengaluru. He spoke at a live debate hosted by the IIM-B, recalling his fall to the audience. Despite the UAE government lifting his travel ban, he wanted to be free from all legal hassles before returning home in Thrissur which was not fulfilled.
MANAGERS DUPED HIM, 3,000KG GOLD WENT MISSING
In an interview to TNIE in August, he had recalled how his former managers had duped him which led to his arrest and prison term. A whopping 3,000-plus kilograms of gold worth 740 million dirhams (Rs 1,583.77 crore) went missing from 44 jewellery shops in the six Gulf Cooperation Council countries by the time he was released from the prison, pushing him to penury.
Everyday, he used to get dressed in his flashy kurta by 8.30am as if going to his office and attend online meetings with his lawyers. He was eagerly awaiting to start afresh from the scratch. His life resembles the story of ‘Jacobinte Swargarajyam’. In real life, his wife Indu, as he used to call her fondly, took baby steps in business after his incarceration. She sold their two hospitals and did the follow-up with the banks to ensure his release from confinement.