Krishnam Raju, the veteran Telugu actor, passed away on Sunday. The 83-year-old, known as Rebel Star by his fans, was suffering from numerous health conditions like coronary heart disease, diabetes mellitus, chronic bronchitis, post-cardiac stenting with chronic heart rhythm disorder as well as heart dysfunction. Raju had also had a leg amputation recently. Raju’s ailing health further deteriorated due to post-COVID complications. He had been in hospital for the same since August 5.

Who was Krishnam Raju?

Raju, whose full name was Uppalapati Venkata Krishnam Raju, was born in Andhra Pradesh’s West Godavari district. He started his career as a journalist but soon moved to films in 1966, with his first film being the Kotayya Pratyagatma directorial, Chilaka Gorinka.

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In the following year, Raju starred in the mythological film Shri Krishnavataram alongside NT Rama Rao, another noted Telugu actor-turned-politician. 

While he generally portrayed villainous characters, Raju also took up experimental roles. He played the character of Islamic scholar Ibn Batuta for the 1972 film Muhammad Bin Tughlaq.

It was another historical role, that of Bobbili Army General Tandra Paparayudu, that landed him a Filmfare Best Actor Award in 1986. He acted in around 180 films during his career.

Although Raju started his political career with Congress in 1992, he moved to the BJP and became a Member of Parliament in 1998. Raju won by more than 165,000 votes in the election, setting a record for winning margin among all Andhra Pradesh constituencies in the 1998 general elections. 

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The veteran actor became a Union Minister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs in September 2000. He was given similar positions in the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Consumer Affairs in 2001 and 2002, respectively.

In the year 2000, it was Raju who moved a motion in the Parliament to introduce The Prohibition of Cow Slaughter Bill, 2000.

Raju took home the Filmfare Awards South in the Best Actor category on three occasions. He was also given a Special Jury Award in 1993 and a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006. He also won three Nandi Awards during his career. Prabhas of Bahubali fame is Raju’s 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy, as well as other notable film and political personalities have mourned the death of Krishnam Raju on social media.