Well-known Telugu film actor, Srihari (49) died on Wednesday at a private hospital in Mumbai, where he was in the midst of a shooting for a Hindi film.
Mr. Srihari, who had been suffering from a liver ailment for some time, complained of giddiness during the shooting of ‘Rambo Rajkumar’ being directed by Prabhu Deva with Shahid Kapoor and Sonakshi Sinha in the lead. He was rushed to a hospital where he died later.
He had acted in 98 movies and two more of his films were just to be released. He started his tryst with the tinsel world in 1986 with the film ‘Thirugbaatu.’ Subsequently, he donned the roles of a stunt performer and villain before making his debut as a hero in ‘Police’in 1999. He had acted as hero in about three dozen films. Srihari was serious about his physical fitness and used to tell his close friends that he would have been a gymnast had he not made it to movies.
In a statement, Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy said Srihari was a popular actor and his untimely death was a loss to the Telugu film industry. He conveyed his heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family members.
Telugu Desam president N. Chandrababu Naidu said Srihari was a self-made man who earned a permanent place as an artiste in the hearts of his audience. Srihari’s death was all the more painful because he was not only an artiste but a social servant. Union Tourism Minister K. Chiranjeevi said there were several films that reflected the outstanding talent of Srihari; ‘Toofan’ being the latest one. He was an asset to the Telugu film industry because he had a bright future. Chiranjeevi recalled “Mutha Mestri” and “Bavagaru Bagunnara” films in which he co-starred with Srihari.
TRS president K. Chandrasekhar Rao also expressed his condolences and conveyed his sympathies to the bereaved family.
