Veteran Telugu actor, ex-Congress MP Ghattamaneni Krishna passes away at 80

Veteran Tollywood actor and former Congress parliamentarian Ghattamaneni Krishna passed away at a private hospital in Hyderabad after a brief illness in the early hours of Tuesday, officials said.

He was 80 and is survived by two sons and three daughters.

While his younger son Mahesh Babu is a reigning superstar in Telugu film industry, his elder son Naresh is also a popular character actor.

His son-in-law Galla Jayadev is presently an MP belonging to Telugu Desam Party (TDP) representing Guntur parliamentary constituency.

The medical bulletin said Krishna was admitted to the hospital at Gachibowli in the wee hours of Monday after he suffered a heart attack. He was resuscitated in the hospital and kept on ventilator.

Also Read: Assam’s eminent artist Neel Pawan Baruah passes away at age 84

“He was responding to the treatment but his condition remained critical,” the doctors said late on Monday night.

However, his condition deteriorated and he breathed his last at around 4:30 am on Tuesday, doctors said.

Krishna lost his first wife Indira Devi due to illness on September 28 and his elder son Ramesh Babu on January 8, this year.

His second wife Vijayanirmala, who was also a popular actor and director in Tollywood, died in 2019.

Born on May 31, 1942 at Burripalem village of Tenali block in Guntur district, Krishna’s original name was Ghattamaneni Sivarama Krishnamurthy.

Before entering the film industry, he acted in several stage plays on behalf of Praja Natya Mandali, a cultural wing of the Communist Party of India.

He made his debut in the Telugu films in 1961 with “Tene Mansulu” but shot into fame with in “Gudhachari 116”.

Krishna’s film “Alluri Seetharama Raju,” a biopic on revolutionary freedom fighter from Andhra, brought him national recognition.

He established Padmalaya Studios in Hyderabad and produced many films.

He was the first producer to introduce cinemascope and 70 mm films in Telugu film industry.

During his four-decade long career in the Telugu film industry, Krishna acted in over 340 films and earned the sobriquets of superstar and dashing hero. His last film was Sri Srikrishna Vijayam in 2016.

His younger son Mahesh is now one of the top actors in the Telugu film industry.

A close follower of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and an ardent fan of Congress, Krishna entered politics in 1984 and won as a Lok Sabha member from Eluru parliamentary constituency in 1989.

He, however, lost the elections from the same constituency again in 1991.

After the assassination of Gandhi, Krishna left politics.

Krishna won several awards for his contribution to the film industry, including Film Fare Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007, NTR National Award in 2013 and Padma Bhushan in 2007.

Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, his Andhra Pradesh counterpart Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu and Andhra Pradesh Governor Biswabhushan Harichandan expressed grief over the death of Krishna and recalled his contribution to the film industry.