The Telugu actor and politician Nandamuri Harikrishna has died in a car crash in Telangana state at the age of 61.
Mr Harikrishna was previously an MP Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and was also well known as being the son of a former legend of Telugu cinema, the ex-chief minister of Andhra Pradesh NT Rama Rao.
Leading figures from the spheres of both Telugu film and politics paid tribute to Mr Harikrishna after news of his death emerged on Wednesday morning.
The accident happened in Nalgonda, on the Hyderabad-Vijayawada national highway. Police said Mr Harikrishna’s SUV was being driven at speeds of up to 150kmh when it hit a divider and flipped, landing on its side.
Three others in the car with Mr Harikrishna were injured but survived, the Times of India reported.
Mr Harikrishna’s political career began when he helped manage his father’s campaign in the 1980s. When NT Rama Rao became chief minister, he was given the role of state transport minister.
Before then, he had a successful spell as a child actor, and later returned to the screen in a series of performances that won him the Best Character Actor gong at the Nandi Awards - the highest annual accolades for Telugu cinema.
With more than 70m speakers, Telugu ranks above French as one of the most popular first languages in the world.
Political tributes to Mr Harikrishna were led by the vice president of India, M Venkaiah Naidu, who said he was “deeply saddened” by the death.
“As a popular actor he has entertained the Telugu audience,” he said. “As a parliamentarian, he was very upright and expressed his opinions frankly. My condolences to his family, well wishers and followers at this time of grief.”
Mohan Babu, a fellow actor in Telugu cinema, said he felt he had “lost a brother”. “There is nothing I can say more. A great loss,” he tweeted.
And Sudheer Babu, another actor, said it was “terrible news to wake up to”. “My heart mourns. May his soul rest in peace and strength to Tarak, Kalyan & the entire family for the huge loss.”
