Description

Kota Srinivasa Rao was an Indian actor and politician. Known for his work primarily in Telugu cinema and Telugu theatre, he also starred in a few films in Tamil, Hindi, Kannada and Malayalam. As a politician, Rao has served as the MLA from Vijayawada East in Andhra Pradesh, India from 1999 to 2004. He made his debut with the Telugu film Pranam Khareedu in 1978. He starred in over 750 feature films. He won nine state Nandi Awards in various categories of villain, character actor, and supporting actor. In 2012, he garnered the SIIMA Award for his work in Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum. In 2015, he was awarded the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian honour, for his contribution to Indian cinema. Rao's last film appearance will be Hari Hara Veera Mallu: Part 1 which is yet to released in July 2025 where he was cast for small yet powerful characters.