Actor and producer · Telugu cinema
Krishnam Raju
Krishnam Raju movies: 85 Telugu films on file (85 as actor, 2 as producer), 1966–2022. Earliest on file: Chilaka Gorinka (1966). Latest release: Radhe Shyam (11 March 2022).
- Films on file
- 85 (85 as actor, 2 as producer)
- Years on file
- 1966–2022
- Born
- 20 January 1940 · January birthdays (Wikidata)
- Died
- 11 September 2022
- Selected films on file
- Radhe Shyam, Rudhramadevi, Billa
- Record
- Q6437529 on Wikidata
Krishnam Raju (born Uppalapati Venkata Krishnam Raju; 20 January 1940 – 11 September 2022) was an Indian actor and politician who worked in Telugu cinema. Known as “Rebel Star” for his rebellious screen style, he acted in more than 183 feature films, won the inaugural Nandi Award for Best Actor, and collected five Filmfare Awards South and four Nandi Awards in all. He also served two terms in the Lok Sabha and as a Union Minister of State. He was the uncle of the actor Prabhas.
Early life
Krishnam Raju was born in Mogalthur, West Godavari district, to Uppalapati Veera Venkata Satyanarayana Raju. He went to school in Mogalthur and at Taylor’s High School in Narasapuram, and graduated in commerce from Badruka College in Hyderabad. Before films he worked as a journalist for Andhra Ratna; a keen photographer and camera collector, he was once named the second-best photographer in the state.
Debut and villain roles
His first film was K. Pratyagatma’s Chilaka Gorinka (1966), opposite Krishna Kumari. It won a Silver Nandi for Best Feature Film but did not do much for his career. He then appeared in the mythological Sri Krishnavataram (1967) with N. T. Rama Rao. Though reluctant to play a villain after debuting as a hero, he took the antagonist’s role in Nenante Nene (1968) on the advice of colleagues; the film succeeded, and he set a trend for handsome screen villains. Through the late 1960s and early 1970s he played antiheroes, villains and supporting parts, with occasional leads, in films such as Bhale Abbayilu (1969), Amma Kosam (1970), which was Rekha’s first film as an actress, and Bangaaru Talli (1971), a remake of Mother India.
Star and producer
He turned producer with Krishnaveni (1974), opposite Vanisri, under his own banner, Gopi Krishna Movies. Bapu’s Bhakta Kannappa (1976), in which he played Arjuna and Kannappa, won the National Film Award for Best Audiography. His first film with K. Raghavendra Rao, Amara Deepam (1977), won him the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu and the Nandi Award for Best Actor.
In 1978 two of his films, released ten days apart, became blockbusters: Katakatala Rudrayya, which the source says grossed ₹75 lakh on a budget of ₹18 lakh, and Mana Voori Pandavulu, which he co-produced and which won the Filmfare Award for Best Film – Telugu. Other hits of the period included Andadu Aagadu, in which he played a James Bond-style spy, Rangoon Rowdy (1979), Taxi Driver (1981) and Trisulam (1982). He also worked with directors such as K. Viswanath and K. Balachander.
1980s and 1990s
Bobbili Brahmanna (1984) was an industry hit that brought him another Filmfare and Nandi Award for Best Actor, and he remade it in Hindi as Dharm Adhikari (1986) with Dilip Kumar and Jeetendra. He won further Filmfare awards for the title role in Tandra Paparayudu (1986), which premiered at the 11th International Film Festival of India, and for Marana Sasanam (1987), and played Srikrishnadevaraya in Viswanatha Nayakudu (1987). Palnati Pourusham (1994) was a major hit, and in 1997 he acted in two Kannada films.
Later films
He appeared with Prabhas for the first time in Billa, which also relaunched Gopi Krishna Movies, and later in Rebel. He played Ganapati Devudu, the father of the title character, in Rudhramadevi, billed as India’s first 3D historical film. His last film was Radhe Shyam (2022), in which he played Paramahamsa.
Politics
After an unsuccessful Congress candidacy from Narasapuram in 1992, he joined the Bharatiya Janata Party and won the Kakinada Lok Sabha seat in 1998 by the largest margin in Andhra Pradesh, then won Narasapuram in 1999. In the Vajpayee government he served as a Union Minister of State for External Affairs, then Defence, and then Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution. He joined Chiranjeevi‘s Praja Rajyam Party in March 2009 and unsuccessfully contested Rajahmundry that year.
Family
Krishnam Raju married Shyamaladevi in 1996, and they had three daughters. His younger brother, the producer Uppalapati Surya Narayana Raju, was the father of Prabhas. Krishnam Raju died in Hyderabad on 11 September 2022, at the age of 82.
Career on file
Krishnam Raju has 85 Telugu films on file at Tollywood Desk, dated from 1966 to 2022: 85 films as actor and two films as producer. The earliest of them is Chilaka Gorinka (1966), and the most recent release is Radhe Shyam (2022). The most widely covered of these, counted by Wikipedia language editions, are Radhe Shyam (2022), Rudhramadevi (2015) and Billa (2009). Other recent releases on file are Yevade Subramanyam (2015), Chandee (2013) and Rebel (2012).
Jayasudha is the most frequent co-star, sharing 21 films with Krishnam Raju, followed by Allu Rama Lingaiah (19) and Kaikala Satyanarayana (19). Among directors, Dasari Narayana Rao cast Krishnam Raju most often, in 13 films; next are V. Madhusudhan Rao (7) and K. Raghavendra Rao (6). Chellapilla Satyam and K. V. Mahadevan each scored 11 of them, more than any other music director; next are K. Chakravarthy (10) and J. V. Raghavulu (9). Gopi Krishna Movies produced four of them, more than any other banner on file. Across these films the credits on file name 48 different directors, 34 music directors and 125 other credited actors.
Runtime is on file for 36 of them; they average 150 minutes, and the longest is Rebel at 176 minutes. Two of them have a streaming (OTT) release noted on the site. By decade the list splits into 1960s (5), 1970s (26), 1980s (35), 1990s (9), 2000s (4), 2010s (5) and 2020s (1). 1981 is the busiest single year, with six films.
Figures come from the films on file at Tollywood Desk and change as records are added.