Kota Srinivasa Rao, a senior Indian actor and former lawmaker for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), died Sunday morning at his Hyderabad home. He was eighty-three.
According to Indian media, the legendary actor had been ill for a while and only celebrated his birthday two days ago.
Rao, who is originally from Andhra Pradesh, started performing in 1978 and has since become one of the most successful actors in Indian film. In more than four decades, he acted in more than 750 films in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, and Hindi, among other languages.
Rao became one of the most admired character performers in South Indian film because of his potent depictions of antagonistic characters.
He was a beloved of both fans and directors because of his variety and on-screen persona, which gave each job dimension.
In 2015, Rao received the Padma Shri, one of the highest civilian honours in India, in appreciation of his contributions to the film industry.
Rao was involved in politics outside of the movie industry. From 1999 to 2004, he represented the BJP as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) from the Vijayawada East constituency.
The Indian film industry has been flooded with tributes since the news of his passing. Social media has been used by fans, directors, and actors to share their condolences and honour the renowned artist’s corpus of work.
Actor Chiranjeevi referred to Rao as “irreplaceable in both cinema and public life,” while filmmaker Trivikram Srinivas termed him a “pillar of Telugu cinema.”
Members of the political and cinematic communities are anticipated to attend the funeral services, which are scheduled to take place in Hyderabad.
His family, which includes his actor son Kota Venkata Anjaneya Prasad, survives Kota Srinivasa Rao.
