Krishnam Raju, the veteran Telugu actor, and politician passed away on Sunday aged 83. Popularly known as the “Rebel Star”, Raju is a big name in the Telugu film industry and has 183 films under his name. The actor also contested and won a Lok Sabha seat for the first time with a ticket from BJP in 1998 and even served as a Minister of State in the Vajpayee government between 1999 and 2004.

Also read: Who was Krishnam Raju?

He was suffering from multiple age-related illnesses which were further complicated by Covid 19. He was hospitalised from August 5 till his death on Sunday. 

While Raju is a big name in the industry, not many are aware that he is the uncle of Prabhas- another big name in the Telugu film industry. In fact, Krishnam Raju was the second lead in Prabhas’ 2022 film Radhe Shyam. This was also the actor’s last appearance on screen. 

Prabhash is the son of U Suryanarayana Raju, the younger brother of Krishnam Raju. Reports suggest that the 83-year-old actor was close to his superstar nephew and were on the same page on many issues. The uncle-nephew duo has often appeared on stage together as well. 

In fact, it is widely believed that Prabhas shares the same political sentiments as his uncle, the departed actor Raju. It was reported that while most actors in the Telugu film industry donated money for Covid relief, Prabhas made a whooping INR 4 crore donation to the PM Cares fund. 

Also read: Why was Krishnam Raju called ‘Rebel Star’?

There were also talks of a film directed by Krishnam Raju in which Prabhas would be starring. However, after the project failed to take off, Krishnam Raju said, “I can’t direct Prabhas. I’m aged now. I can’t direct a movie for Prabhas.”

Following the death of the actor, messages of grief and condolence have poured in from across the country.