Vijay Sai, Dasari Narayana Rao and 10 other Tollywood celebs have died due to various reasons in 2017. Their death has created an irreplaceable void in the Telugu film industry.
Producer KC Sekhar Babu died of a heart attack at his residence in Jubilee Hills in Hyderabad on February 25. The 73-year-old producer hailed from Kanchikacherla village, Andhra Pradesh, and had entered the film industry with the movie, Mamatha, in 1973. Later, he went on to churn out several hit movies.
Producer Dil Raju's wife Anitha died of a heart attack at his residence in Hyderabad on March 11. She was said to be the lucky mascot for Dil Raju, whose fate changed after marrying her. She was the presenter of all films produced under Dil Raju's banner Sri Venkateswara Creations including super hits like Aarya, Dil, Bommarillu, Parugu, Subramanyam For Sale and Supreme.
Dasari Narayana Rao, 75, passed away while undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Hyderabad on May 30. He began his career as a director with the movie Samsaram Sagaram in 1973. He went on to direct over 140 films in Telugu and other languages. He also acted in hundreds of movies, produced several films and worked as dialogue writer and lyricist. He was honoured with two National Film Awards, nine Nandi Awards, the Raghupathi Venkaiah Award and four Filmfare Awards South.
TV actor Pradeep Kumar was found dead under mysterious circumstances at his residence in Hyderabad on May 3. He had made a mark on the small screen and acted in several serials. He was known for the lead role in Telugu serial Saptha Matrika.
Jnanpith Award-winning writer Dr C Narayana Reddy, also known as CiNaRe, died of heart-related complications at a private hospital in Hyderabad on June 12. He had entered the film industry as a lyricist with Gulebakavali Katha in 1962. He got into the limelight with the song Nannu dochu Kunduvate Vannela. Then there was no looking back for this talented writer, who went on pen over 3,000 songs.
Telugu actor Ravi Teja's brother B Bharath Raj died in a car accident on the Outer Ring Road in Shamshabad on June 24. He was a small-time actor and was featured in films such as Dhee and Ready.
Senior actress BV Radha died of a heart attack at a private hospital in Bangalore on September 10. She started her acting career with legendary Kannada actor late Rajkumar's 1964 film Navakoti Narayana. Then she went on to work with MG Ramachandran, Sivaji Ganesan, NT Rama Rao, Gemini Ganesan, Akkineni Nageswara Rao and Jaishankar, who were the leading actors in the south Indian cinema in the 1960s and 1970s.
Veteran Telugu film writer MVS Haranatha Rao passed away on October 9 over some health problems. He started acting in stage dramas when he was in the third standard. Raktabali was the first play written by him. He went on to write seven other plays. He acted in more than 20 films including Rakshasudu and Swayam Krushi.
TV anchor and actress Mallika, whose real name is Abhinaya, also breathed her last on October 9. She worked as an anchor in various channels between 1997 and 2004. She had also received awards such as Best Anchor Award. She also acted in many films as a character artiste. She is known for her performances in Mahesh Babu's Raja Kumarudu and Venkatesh's Kalisundam Raa.
Comedian Vijay Sai committed suicide on December 11. He acted in several Telugu movies and was known for his performance in Bhaskar's Bommarillu and Ravi Babu's Ammayilu Abbayilu.
PSV Garuda Vega line producer Murali Srinivas, the brother of actor Dr Rajasekhar's wife Jeevitha, died due to kidney-related illness in Hyderabad on November 2.
Actor Dr Rajasekhar's mother Aandalu Varadharajan, 82, breathed her last at a hospital in Hyderabad in September.
