Chiranjeevi consoles Prabhas as he breaks down after Krishnam Raju’s death

Veteran actor and politician Krishnam Raju died at the age of 82 on Sunday morning. Actor Prabhas, his nephew, seemed visibly shaken by the death of his uncle in videos and pictures shared from the late actor’s residence. In pics and videos shared from there, Prabhas can be seen sobbing. A number of actors and filmmakers from the Telugu film industry reached the actor’s residence to pay their respects.

Krishnam Raju was one of the most popular and successful Telugu actors in the 1970s and 80s before he joined politics. Prabhas is the son of his younger brother, the late film producer Uppalapati Surya Narayana Raju. Prabhas and Krishnam Raju worked together for the first time in the 2009 film Billa. The actor often spoke about how close he was to his uncle, particularly after his father’s death in 2010.

In a video shared by a fan club from the funeral, Prabhas can be seen sobbing and wiping off his tears at the funeral. In a few pictures shared by industry insiders and fans, Prabhas is consoling his family members. In another picture, veteran actor Chiranjeevi – who worked with Krishnam Raju – can be seen consoling Prabhas and holding his hand even as the latter tries to hold back tears.

Krishnam Raju died on Sunday morning at a Hyderabad hospital. As per a PTI report, he was suffering from post-Covid-19 ailments. He was popularly known as the Rebel Star in Telugu cinema. He worked in a number of successful films in the 1970s and 80s, including Krishnaveni, Sati Savitri, Rangoon Rowdy, Dharmaatmudu, and Antima Theerpu. He later joined the Bharatiya Janata Party and was elected to the Lok Sabha twice between 1998 and 2004. He was a Union Minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government.

His death saw tributes pouring in from film and political fraternity, with PM Narendra Modi, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, and actors Chiranjeevi, Allu Arjun, Mahesh Babu, Jr NTR, Anushka Shetty, and Nikhil Siddhartha posting about him on social media. Krishnam Raju’s mortal remains are kept at his house till Monday, when he will be cremated with full state honours.