Veteran Tollywood actor and Mahesh Babu’s father Krishna passed away in the early hours of Tuesday at a hospital in Hyderabad, where he was admitted following a heart attack. Superstar Krishna, one of the stalwarts of the Telugu film industry, breathed his last at Continental Hospital. According to the doctors, he was brought to the hospital in an unconscious state after the attack, but he regained consciousness after 20 minutes of giving CPR. Although his condition was critical and he was put on ventilator.
Who was Krishna? Ghattamaneni Shiva Ram Krishna Murthy ie Krishna acted in more than 350 films in his career spanning five decades. He also produced and directed some films. Born on May 31, 1942, at Buripalem in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh, Krishna entered the film industry with minor roles in the early 1960s, making his debut as a lead actor in the 1965 film Thene Manasulu, which was a hit.
How did you become a superstar? Gudachari 116 (1966), the spy film, proved to be a superhit, making Krishna one of the most sought after actors. With this success, he got offers for 20 films. He later starred in at least six James Bond-like films.
Sakshi (1967) received critical acclaim at the Tashkent Film Festival. His 1972 film Pandanti Kapooram won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu for that year. Krishna is known for several landmark films such as Alluri Sitarama Raju, which was the first Cinemascope film in Tollywood.
Krishna married Indira Devi in 1965. Mahesh Babu has two sons and three daughters. In 1969, he married actress Vijaya Nirmala for the second time and they had a son. Nirmala died in 2019.
After the death of wife Indira Devi in September, he started living in a lot of trouble. Earlier this year, his elder son Ramesh Babu also died.
Also close to Rajiv Gandhi- Krishna was considered close to former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. He joined the Congress party in 1984. Krishna made some films criticizing NTR Rama Rao and his government.
He was elected to the Lok Sabha from Eluru in 1989, but lost the election from the same constituency in 1991. After the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, Krishna had distanced himself from politics.
