Veteran Telugu actor Devadas Kanakala, who helped many budding actors hone their skills through his film institute, died in Hyderabad on Friday.
He was 75. His wife had predeceased him.
He is survived by a son, Rajeev Kanakala, a popular Teleugu actor and a daughter.
Devadas Kanakala was admitted to a private hospital in the city on 27 July and the end came around 3.30 pm, hospital sources said.
The cause of death was sepsis with multi-organ dysfunction, they said.
Kanakala, who hailed from Yanam (neighbouring East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh) in Pondicherry, began his career about five decades ago.
He acted in about 100 films.
Superstar Chiranjeevi had also reportedly honed his skills with Kanakala’s institute in Chennai.
The Telugu film industry was based in the southern metropolis before shifting to Hyderabad.
Rajeev Kanakalas wife Suma is a hugely popular anchor in the Telugu television industry.
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao condoled the death of Devadas Kanakala.
In his condolence message, he said the death of Devadas had caused a void in the Telugu film industry.
CM Ramesh, a member of parliament (Rajya Sabha) of the Bharatiya Janta Party termed Devadas’ demise as an “insatiable deficit for the Telugu film industry” in his condolence tweet.
Check out the tweet here
సీనియర్ నటులు, ప్రముఖ దర్శకులు, శ్రీ దేవదాసు కనకాల గారి మరణం బాధాకరం. ఆయన మృతి తెలుగు చిత్ర పరిశ్రమకు తీరని లోటు. ఆయన ఆత్మకు శాంతి చేకూర్చాలని, ఆ లోటును తట్టుకునే శక్తి కుటుంబసభ్యులకు కలిగించాలని భగవంతున్ని కోరుకుంటున్నాను.
— Dr. CM Ramesh (@CMRamesh_MP) August 2, 2019
ఓం శాంతి 🙏 #DevadasKanakala pic.twitter.com/E35bbFNMVt
(With inputs from Press Trust of India)