Telugu veteran actor Raja Babu passes away at 64

The ace character actor Raja Babu breathed his last on Sunday night. He succumbed to some health issues before his unfortunate demise. He is survived by his wife, a daughter and two sons.

Raja Babu was born on June 13, 1957 in Ramachandrapuram Mandal of East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh. He hailed from a family where his father Ramatarakam too was into films. He was an actor, producer and filmmaker. As a child, Raja Babu was introduced to dramas, theatres and acting and fell in love with them immensely. He started his acting career as a theatre performer before coming to Hyderabad and becoming a popular actor in Tollywood.

Uppalapati Narayana Rao, the award-winning filmmaker launched the late actor in 1995 with his movie Ooriki Monagadu. This marked his debut in a Telugu feature film. This was followed by his next movie with Krishna Vamsi, Sindooram. He was part of several successful ventures that include Samudram, Murari, Aadavari Maatalaku Ardhaale Verule, Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu, Sreekaram, Malli Raava, Brahmotsavam and Bharat Ane Nenu. His filmography consisted of 62 movies in the two and half decades of his stint as a character actor in the film industry.

He also took the TV world by storm by appearing in serials like Vasantha Kokila, Manasu Mamatha Priyanka and Chi La Sow Sravanthi among others. He is also the recipient of the prestigious Nandi Award for his performance in the TV serial Amma in 2005.

Despite doing serious roles in movies, Raja Babu was known to have been a jovial human being with an amazing sense of humour and his colleagues used to fondly call him ‘Babai’.