
Acting
Kota Srinivasa Rao
Born 1944-07-10 · Vijayawada, Krishna District, Andhra Pradesh, India
Kota Srinivasa Rao (July 10, 1942 – July 13, 2025) was a legendary Indian actor, politician, and theatre artist, celebrated as one of the most versatile and prolific character actors in Telugu cinema, alongside extensive work in Tamil, Hindi, Kannada, and Malayalam films. Born in Kankipadu, Andhra Pradesh, to a doctor father, he initially pursued a Bachelor of Science degree and worked as a State Bank of India employee before fully dedicating himself to his passion for acting. He made his feature film debut alongside Chiranjeevi in *Pranam Khareedu* (1978). In the 1980s and 1990s, Kota established an indomitable screen presence, displaying unmatched mastery over local dialects, comedic timing, and menacing villainy. His career-defining breakthrough arrived with the comedy *Aha Naa Pellanta* (1987), where his portrayal of the extreme miser Lakshmipathy became an iconic cultural touchstone. He consistently elevated films by playing ruthless politicians, strict patriarchs, and hilarious antagonists in massive hits like Ram Gopal Varma's *Shiva* (1989), *Gaayam* (1993), *Hello Brother* (1994), and *Ganesh* (1998). Throughout the 2000s and 2010s, he remained a ubiquitous and indispensable force in Telugu cinema. He delivered brilliant performances in blockbusters such as *Idiot* (2002), *Athadu* (2005), *Bommarillu* (2006), *Ready* (2008), *Leader* (2010), *Rakta Charitra* (2010), *Dookudu* (2011), *Attarintiki Daredi* (2013), and *S/O Satyamurthy* (2015). He concurrently made a powerful impact in other industries, most notably as the antagonist in the Tamil blockbuster *Saamy* (2003) and the Hindi crime epic *Sarkar* (2005). Beyond cinema, he ventured into politics and successfully served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) representing the Vijayawada East constituency from 1999 to 2004 under the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Over a monumental career spanning nearly five decades and over 750 films, Kota received nine Nandi Awards across the Best Villain, Best Character Actor, and Best Supporting Actor categories. In 2015, the Government of India honored him with the Padma Shri, the nation's fourth-highest civilian award, for his invaluable contributions to Indian cinema. After a prolonged illness, he passed away on July 13, 2025, in Hyderabad at the age of 83, leaving behind a massive legacy in Telugu cinema. His final on-screen appearance was in the period epic *Hari Hara Veera Mallu* (2025).
Acting credits
4.1Aei movie begins with Sakthivel (Sarath Kumar) selling electrical accessories along with his friend Palani (Vadivelu) leading a peaceful life at Palani. He comes across Anjali (Nameedha) and falls in love with her.Sakthivel's past is made to unfold in a flashback. He is a military officer who joins his friend Mani (Kalabhavan Mani) on a vacation. The duo decides to reform the society and cleanse the police department by taking as hostage a few corrupt police officers.
Aai
2004
4.8Veera Narasimha Naidu (Prabhu) is a faction leader in Kurnool who raised his sister Saraswati (Seetha) with love and Affection to make her forget the loss of their Mother. During the marriage time, she eloped with Basha (Suman), whom she loved which led the death of Narasimha Naidu's Father. Thus enraged Narasimha Naidu cuts the leg of Basha which created a rift between the two families. On a case to win the property belonging to Saraswati, Basha wins the case on Narasimha Naidu after a long gap of 25 years. Seeing the sorrow of Saraswati, her son Sulaiman (Vishnu Manchu) vows to unite the two families and waits for a situation.
Dhenikaina Ready
2012
4.8Veera Narasimha Naidu (Prabhu) is a faction leader in Kurnool who raised his sister Saraswati (Seetha) with love and Affection to make her forget the loss of their Mother. During the marriage time, she eloped with Basha (Suman), whom she loved which led the death of Narasimha Naidu's Father. Thus enraged Narasimha Naidu cuts the leg of Basha which created a rift between the two families. On a case to win the property belonging to Saraswati, Basha wins the case on Narasimha Naidu after a long gap of 25 years. Seeing the sorrow of Saraswati, her son Sulaiman (Vishnu Manchu) vows to unite the two families and waits for a situation.
Dhenikaina Ready
2012
3.5A young man returns home years after he ran away. He tries to win over his childhood love, but she is in love with someone else. How will he react?
Andala Ramudu
2006
An ordinary man who manages workers at a construction site notices his people are being exploited by evil contractors and ministers. He decides to take on and punish the corrupt.
Mestri
2005
Ananthakrishnan, coming from a conservative and rich Brahmin family, falls in love at first sight with Dhanam, a beautiful prostitute. Soon Ananthu proposes to her and she says that she will marry him if his family accepts her knowing her past. Cunning astrologer of Ananthu's family is lusting after her & plots his own agenda with Dhanam using this.
Dhanam
2008
6.1Set in the 1650s Mughal Era, Veera Mallu, a Robin Hood-like outlaw with secret motives is hired to steal the Koh-i-Noor from Aurangzeb’s palace. He is joined by a crew of misfits, each talented in their own way, to complete the mission.
Hari Hara Veera Mallu: Part 1 – Sword vs Spirit
2025
5.8While the nation is terrorized by a slew of kidnappings and murders, a young woman falls in love with a mysterious man; not realizing that he is the one who went to jail for the murder of her parents, thirteen years earlier.
Athidhi
2007
5.9A boy is adopted by his grandfather after his parents are murdered. He grows up to be an actor to honor a promise to his dying grandfather that he would perform in a play in his native village. The performance leads him to his parents' murderers.
Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum
2012
Two crooks, Raja and Babu, who get released from jail, decide to help an innocent prisoner, who is falsely accused in a murder. In the process, both discover secrets about their childhood.
Guru Sishyulu
1990
5.3At his father's request, Aditya attends a law college in the coastal metropolis of Visakhapatnam, although he actually wanted to become an engineer. On the first day he meets the beautiful Anjali. Over time, the female student slowly begins to become interested in the strange newcomer, who acts nice and friendly but doesn't seem to be interested in anything else. The college is notorious for its disobediently and disorderly students. It's not the professors who are in charge on campus, but rather the student leader Satya. He is also in love with Anjali and sees Aditya as a competitor who needs to be put in his place. So Aditya faces multiple problems as he tries to reform the unruly students while dealing with his terrible past that everyone doesn't know about.
Student No. 1
2001
4.7Munna (Prabhas) is a college student. His aim is to finish off mafia don Kakha (Prakash Raj) who keeps the entire city under his grip. Munna has personal vengeance to take on Kakha. An honest politician Srinivasa Rao (Kota Srinivasa Rao) relentlessly works to expose Kakha but gets killed. Meanwhile, Munna’s classmate Nidhi (Ileana D'Cruz) falls in love with him. The twist in the tale is that Kakha is none other than his estranged father who tries to sell off his mother and was responsible for the death of his mother and his kid sister. Another don in the city named Aatma, who is the opposition of Kakha (Rahul Dev) asks Munna to join him. But Munna refuses his proposal. Munna starts to beat Kakha and the mind game begins. Kakha's second wife and son-daughter left him and join Munna. After some incidents including the death of his best friend, Munna finds out that Aatma was working for Kakha all along.
Munna
2007
7.2Seenu is the son of a municipality truck driver Bonala Bikshapati. Mallika is the daughter of a millionaire Somalinga Raju. Seenu and Mallika are classmates and fall in love. Irritated by this, Somalinga Raju puts Seenu in jail on false charges. The second half is all about how Seenu bids for a great escape and marries his ladylove.
Dhairyam
2005
7.4A village is hounded by an unknown disease, decimating its population. The village priest prophesies that God's avatar will save them. Siddha goes in search of this supernatural potential and finds it in Seetarama Raju, a cab driver.
Khaleja
2010
NRVisakha Express is a Suspense Thriller Movie. The basic plot of the story is taken from Strangers On A Train, which is about the two strangers and exchange of murders.
Vishaka Express
2008
No synopsis available yet.
Prema Vijetha
1992
5.8A blind man with his 'Echolocation' power takes on a revenge mission.
Thaandavam
2012
5.7Rishi (Ravi Teja) is an inspector in the Intelligence Bureau. His colleagues fondly call him 'Mirapakaay'. The chief of the IB, Narayana Murthy (Nagababu) gets information that Kittu Bhai (Prakash Raj), a mafia don, is trying to spread his tentacles in India and is targeting Delhi first. During the course of the investigation, ACP (Sanjay Swaroop) is killed by Shankar (Kota Srinivasa Rao), a local goon with the help of his son (Supreet). Murthy sends Rishi to Hyderabad and gets him admitted to a college as a Hindi lecturer as part of an undercover operation. Rishi meets Vinamra (Richa Gangopadhyay) at a temple & falls in love at first sight. Incidentally, she studies in the same college and in the same class to which Rishi teaches Hindi. Their love blossoms. At this juncture, Vaishali (Deeksha Seth), daughter of Kittu Bhai, joins the same college. Grabbing the opportunity, the IB chief asks Rishi to extract information about Kittu from Vaishali.
Mirapakay
2011
9.0Bose learns of an inheritance to the male heir of his family. A marriage of convenience between him and Bhanu follows. As their siblings join the race for having a child, they all learn a life lesson.
Lucky Chance
1994
NRWhen Madhu neglects his son while dealing with his wife's demise, Sneha enters his life as his son's nanny. Though she falls for Madhu, her half-brother, Banerjee, has other plans for them.
Priyaraagalu
1997
8.0Siddhartha, a typical young man, falls in love with Kokila. She too eventually falls for him and both get married. At first they live happily, however later on Siddhartha loses his eyes in an accident, which is when trouble starts for them.
Kokila
1990
6.4The sequel carries forward the tale of power and revenge which exploded in Rakht Charitra 1. The rebel leader turned politician, Pratap consolidates his political base but is forced to retread the path of vengeance once again after a rival from the past, Surya Narayan Reddy chooses to avenge the assassination of his family. Surya swears vengeance against Pratap after his family is wiped out in a bomb attack and Pratap is hell bent on decimating his enemy, even if it means separating ways with his mentor and political veteran, Shivaji.
Rakht Charitra 2
2010
8.0Prashanth and Divya get married without informing anyone. Divya's father tries to make their life hell.
Tholi Muddu
1993
4.0As the state's cops eliminate the underlings of Daniel, one of the masterminds of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, there comes a challenger — Thalaivan, who starts committing crimes under their noses. Who is this mysterious man and what is his objective?
Thalaivan
2014