TNI Bureau: Veteran Telugu film actor and former BJP MLA Kota Srinivasa Rao passed away at his residence in Filmnagar in Jubilee Hills of Hyderabad. He was 83 when died due to prolonged illness just two days after his 83rd birthday.

Rao was donpato at Kankipadu in Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh and began his acting career in 1978 with ‘Pranam Khareedhu’.

In a career spanning more than four decades, Rao has acted in over 750 films across Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, and Hindi languages and was immensely appreciated and accepted by the movie lovers for his versatile performances, mostly as villains and character roles.

‘Aha Naa Pellanta!,’ ‘Pratigatana,’ ‘Khaidi Number 786,’ ‘Shiva,’ and ‘Yamaleela’ are some of his best films.

The Indian government had conferred the Padma Shri award in 2015 for his immense contribution to Indian cinema. He was also a BJP MLA from the Vijayawada East Assembly constituency from 1999 to 2004.

Meanwhile, actors of different film industries and eminent personalities including politicians are mourning the legendary actor’s death.