Veteran actor Captain Raju dead

Veteran Malayalam actor, Captain Raju, who was seen in Telugu films like ‘Rowdy Alludu’ and ‘Shatruvu’, died on Monday at his residence in Kerala, said family sources. He was 68.

While travelling from here to the US in June to attend his son's marriage, the actor suffered a stroke and was shifted to a hospital in Muscat. After a week's treatment in Muscat, he was airlifted back to Kochi on July 2.  Hailing from Pathanamthitta district, the actor had quit from the Indian Army where he was a Captain and started his acting career in 1981. He was often cast as a villain and has featured in character roles and in TV serials. He was last seen in the Malayalam film ‘Masterpiece’.

The actor has starred in around 500 Malayalam films and has also been a part of numerous projects in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Hindi as well. The lanky and well-built actor took on the might of Chiranjeevi in ‘Rowdy Alludu,’ Vijayashanti in ‘Shatruvu’ and Venkatesh in ‘Kondapalli Raja’. He was also seen in ‘Gandeevam’, ‘Mondi Mogudu Penki Pellam’ and ‘Matho Pettukoku’ to carve out a niche for himself in T-town in the 1990s.