Telugu superstar Krishna, father of Mahesh Babu, passes away at 79

Krishna suffered a cardiac arrest early Monday, following which he was rushed to a private hospital in Hyderabad. The doctors, who treated him at Continental Hospitals, revealed that Krishna was brought to the hospital in an unconscious state and he was revived after performing 20 minutes of CPR. Later, the actor was shifted to the hospital’s intensive care unit and put on life support. He was monitored by a multidisciplinary team of doctors.

In a statement, the hospital said that Krishna was moved to the ICU where he remained critically ill with ‘multiorgan failure’ and ‘severe hypoxic brain injury’. It was decided on Monday evening that further supportive care should not be pursued in the interest of making Krishna’s final moments painless. The official time of death was 4:09 am.

Condolences poured in from all quarters. Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao remembered Krishna’s services to the Telugu film industry for five decades as an actor, producer, director and head of a production company. The CM said that the death of Krishna, who acted in more than 350 films and left an indelible mark on the hearts of moviegoers, is a huge loss for the Telugu film industry. Actors Chiranjeevi and Nani also paid tribute.

Radikaa Sarathkumar mourned the demise of the superstar on Twitter. She wrote, “Deeply saddened on the passing of #KrishnaGaru a man who made a great mark as a #SuperStarKrishna . May his soul #RIPKrishnaGaru . My condolences to @urstrulyMahesh and family in these trying times🙏🙏🙏.”

Krishna began his career in Telugu movies in the early 1960s. And soon he found huge success as a leading man and retained a top position in the film industry till the late 1980s. In a career spanning over 50 years, he did more than 350 films. Some of the biggest hits of Krishna were Gudachari 116, Manchi Kutumbam, Lakshmi Nivasam, Vichitra Kutumbam, Devadasu, Bhale Krishnudu, Guru Sishyulu to name a few.

Krishna married twice in his life. His first wife was Indira, with whom he had five children – Ramesh Babu, Mahesh Babu, Padmavathi, Manjula and Priyadarshini). His second wife was actor-filmmaker Vijaya Nirmala. On September 28 this year, Indira passed away at the age of 70. And in January, Ramesh died due to a kidney-related disease.

Mahesh Babu followed in his father Krishna’s footsteps. On his own merit, Mahesh became one of the biggest stars of Telugu cinema.