Biography

Kota Srinivasa Rao (born 10 July 1942 –13 July 2025) was an Indian actor, politician, and theatre artist who worked primarily in Telugu cinema, as well as Tamil, Hindi, Kannada, and Malayalam films. He made his feature film debut in *Pranam Khareedu* (1978), alongside Chiranjeevi. His breakthrough came with the comedy *Aha Naa Pellanta* (1987), in which he played the miser Lakshmipathy. He later appeared as politicians, patriarchs, and antagonists in films including Ram Gopal Varma's *Shiva* (1989), *Gaayam* (1993), *Hello Brother* (1994), and *Ganesh* (1998). During the 2000s and 2010s, he appeared in films including *Idiot* (2002), *Athadu* (2005), *Bommarillu* (2006), *Ready* (2008), *Leader* (2010), *Rakta Charitra* (2010), *Dookudu* (2011), *Attarintiki Daredi* (2013), and *S/O Satyamurthy* (2015). His other-language film roles included the antagonist in the Tamil film *Saamy* (2003) and a role in the Hindi film *Sarkar* (2005). He served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly representing Vijayawada East from 1999 to 2004 as a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Over a career spanning nearly five decades and more than 750 films, Kota received nine Nandi Awards in the Best Villain, Best Character Actor, and Best Supporting Actor categories. In 2015, he was awarded the Padma Shri. He died in Hyderabad on 13 July 2025, aged 83. His final on-screen appearance was in the period film *Hari Hara Veera Mallu* (2025).