Rajendra Prasad Age, Family, Biography & More

Bio/Wiki
Full name	Gadde Rajendra Prasad [1]News 18
Other name(s)	• G. Rajendra Prasad [2]The Hindu • Babu Rajendra Prasad Gadde • Dr Rajendra Prasad [3]Telugu Samayam
Names earned	Charlie Chaplin of Telugu cinema [4]Telangana Today Nata Kireeti [5]Telangana Today King of Comedy [6]NDTV
Profession	Actor
Physical Stats & More
Height (approx.)	in centimeters- 178 cm in meters- 1.78 m in feet & inches- 5’ 10”
Eye Colour	Black
Hair Colour	Salt & Pepper Reportedly, Rajendra is semi-bald, and he often uses a wig while shooting for films. [7]Deccan Chronicle
Career
Debut	Film (Telugu; as a supporting actor): Sneham (1977) Film (Tamil; as a supporting actor): Inimai Idho Idho (1983) Film (Telugu; as a lead actor): Preminchu Pelladu (1985) as Rambabu OTT Film (Telugu): Senapathi (2021) as Krishna Murthy on Aha
Awards	Nandi Awards 1991: Best Actor Award for the film Erra Mandaram 1994: Special Jury Award for the film Madam 2004: Best Actor Award for the film Aa Naluguru 2014: Best Character Actor Award for the film Tommy South Indian International Movie Awards 2013: Best Supporting Actor (Telugu) for the film Julai 2016: Best Supporting Actor (Telugu) for the film Srimanthudu 2019: Best Supporting Actor (Telugu) for the film Mahanati Santosham Film Awards 2016: Best Supporting Actor for the film Srimanthudu 2018: Santosham Akkineni Nageswara Rao Smarakam Award 2019: Best Supporting Actor for the film Mahanati Other Awards 2013: Best Outstanding Actor Award for the film Onamalu at the CineMAA Awards 2014: Sruthi Laya SwarnaKankana Award by the Sruthilaya Academy for his contribution to the Telugu film industry with over 200 films 2018: Lifetime Achievement Award from the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey 2018: Kalanidhi Award by the spiritual figure Ganapathi Sachidananda at Mysore's Avadhoota Datta Peetham 2018: Padma Mohana Swarna Kamkanam Award in honour of completing 50 years in the film industry 2019: Best Actor in a Supporting Role for the film Mahanati at the Zee Telugu Cine Awards 2022: OTT Performer of the Year Award for the film Senapathi at the OTTplay Awards
Personal Life
Date of Birth	19 July 1956 (Thursday)
Age (as of 2024)	68 Years
Birthplace	Nimmakuru, district Krishna, Andhra Pradesh, India
Zodiac sign	Cancer
Nationality	Indian
Hometown	Dondapadu in the Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh
College/University	M.G.R. Government Film and Television Training Institute in Chennai
Educational Qualification	• Diploma in ceramic engineering [8]Telangana Today • Diploma in acting [9]Greatandhra
Religion/Religious Views	Hinduism [10]Outlook
Caste	Kamma Kamma [11]Kammasworld
Ethnicity	Telugu [12]Outlook
Hobbies	Travelling, exploring new places
Controversies	• Accused of behaving inappropriately with a female co-star In 2004, Rajendra was accused of behaving in an offensive way with Malavika, his female co-star. Malavika, who predominantly appears in Tamil films, was shooting for the Telugu film Apparao Driving School with Rajendra as a lead actor. While shooting for a kissing scene, Malavika alleged that she felt uncomfortable when Rajendra kissed her unnecessarily several times. Consequently, Malavika registered a complaint with the Movie Artists Association (MAA) against Rajendra. [13]The Times of India Malavika, in an interview, talked about Rajendra’s obscene behaviour towards her and said, I'm old enough to be his daughter. But he was so vulgar." • Fined for violating traffic rules On 31 June 2010, Rajendra Prasad was accused of violating the traffic rules as he jumped the red light, and consequently was fined Rs 3000 by the traffic police at Khairatabad in Hyderabad. In addition to this, the police fined him for using a fancy registration number plate for his car; as per the guidelines of the Regional Transport Authority (RTA), a person is liable to be fined for displaying fancy number plates on his/her vehicle. However, Rajendra, despite breaking the traffic rules, argued with the police officials for issuing a challan to him and said, Don’t you know that I am an actor? How can you issue a challan and that too with such a high penalty?” [14]The New Indian Express • Accused of seeking sexual favours from actresses In 2018, the Indian actress Sri Reddy levelled various allegations on Rajendra Prasad, which primarily included harassing the young female artists of the film industry. Sri alleged that Rajendra used to sexually exploit his co-actors and young artists on the pretext of a role in the films. Additionally, she accused Rajendra of behaving inappropriately with the actress Malavika, which eventually led her to quit the film industry. On 3 October 2018, Sri posted on Facebook in which she targeted Rajendra with several allegations, which read, Mr.rajendra pichadu, Why u came out from maa association with in 6 months every one knows, Why heroine malavika left the movie industry every one knows..how much u irritate lady artists for the sexual favours every one knows..why your daughter ran away from your house every one knows..why actress hema fought with u??I respect u as a senior actor but not a human being."
Relationships & More
Marital Status	Married
Family
Wife/Spouse	Vijaya Chamundeswari
Children	Son- Balaji (image in spouse's section) Daughter- Gayathri (died in 2024 due to cardiac arrest)
Parents	Father- Gadde Venkata Narayana (teacher; deceased) Mother- Manikyamba (deceased)
Siblings	Sister(s)- 2 • Prasunnaba • Indira
Favourites
Actor	N. T. Rama Rao
Actress	Savitri Ganesan
Holiday Destination	Ooty in Tamil Nadu
Colour	White
Sport	Cricket

Some Lesser Known Facts About Rajendra Prasad

• Rajendra Prasad is an Indian actor, who predominantly appears in Telugu films. He gained recognition after appearing in various popular films like Erra Mandaram (1991), Madam (1994), Aa Nalugurum (2004), Onamalu (2013), Srimanthudu (2015), and many more.

• Inclined towards acting from a young age, Rajendra decided to pursue his career in acting, and consequently, he shifted to Madras from Andhra Pradesh to look for professional acting opportunities. While giving auditions to fetch a role in films, Rajendra met N. T. Rama Rao, the popular Indian actor, on the sets of the Telugu film Tatamma Kala in 1974. While meeting N. T. Rama Rao, he advised Rajendra to learn the basics of acting by joining an acting school, and eventually, Rajendra got himself admitted to the M.G.R. Government Film and Television Training Institute in Chennai.
  

  Rajendra Prasad (extreme left) in his young age

• At the beginning of his career, Rajendra played supporting roles in many Telugu comedy films like Moodu Mulla Bandham (1980) as Murali, Manchu Pallaki (1982) as Hari, Kalavari Samsaram (1982) as Rajeev, Ramarajyamlo Bheemaraju (1983) as Satish, Adavalle Aligithe (1983) as Karthik, and many more.

• In 1986, Rajendra rose to popularity with his performance in the film Ladies Tailor in which he played the role of Sundaram.
  

  Rajendra Prasad as Sundaram in a still from the film Ladies Tailor (1986)

• In 1987, Rajendra gained immense recognition for playing the role of Krishna Murthy in the film Aha Naa Pellant.

• Apart from acting in the films, Rajendra voiced a few songs in the Telugu films like “Muddula Kavalaena” from the film Teneteega (1991), “Jim Jim Jatara” from the film Family Circus (2001), “Chinni Krishnudochadu” from the film Ammaye Navvithe (2001), and “Fififee Fifeefee” from the film Gaali Sampath (2021).

• Later, Rajendra acted in several popular Telugu films like Yerra Mandaram (1991) as Ramudu, Mister Pellam (1993) as Balaji, Aa Naluguru (2004) as Raghuram, Bhagyalakshmi Bumper Draw (2006) as Bullabbai, Mee Sreyobhilashi (2007) as Rajaji, Julai (2012) as Sitaram, Onamalu (2013) as Narayana Rao, Climax (2021) as Vijay Modi, and many more.
  

  Rajendra Prasad as Narayana Rao in a still from the film Onamalu (2013)

• Along with acting, Rajendra produced the Telugu films Madam (1993) and Rambantu (1996).

• In 2000, Rajendra dubbed in his voice the character of Dr Kailash (played by the Indian actor Jayaram) in the Telugu dubbed version of the Tamil film Thenali.

• In 2003, Rajendra rendered his voice to the character Mangalam (played by the Indian actor Vivek) in the Telugu dubbed version of the Tamil film Boys. The same year, he produced the Kannada film Meese Chiguridaga (2003).

• On 13 June 2009, Rajendra was invited as a guest to walk the green carpet at the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards festival, which was held in Macau, China. Apparently, in any award show, a red carpet is laid to welcome and greet the dignitaries. However, the organisers of IIFA 2009 wanted to create awareness regarding global warming and its disastrous effects on the planet. Consequently, they arranged a green carpet and gave the honour of walking the carpet to Rajendra as his film Quick Gun Murugun promoted vegetarianism.

• The International School of Film and Media (ISFM) invited Rajendra to present certificates to the first batch of students of the acting course “Intro to Acting for Film, Television, and Theatre (IAFTT)” in March 2012.

• In December 2012, Bahrain’s Telugu Kala Samithi honoured Rajendra Prasad for his splendid contribution to the film industry.
  

  Rajendra Prasad being felicitated for his contribution to the film industry by the Telugu Kala Samithi in Bahrain

• On 17 April 2015, Rajendra was elected as the president of the Movie Artists Association (MAA) after he defeated the potential candidate Jayasudha, who is an Indian actress, by a margin of 85 votes.
  

  Rajendra Prasad celebrating with his supporters after winning the Movie Artists Association (MAA) presidential elections in 2015

• Rajendra got enrolled in the same acting school, which had trained prominent actors like Rajinikanth and Chiranjeevi.

• Rajendra received the honour to inaugurate the State-level NSS Youth Festival at the Nannaya University in Andhra Pradesh on 30 January 2017.

• Rajendra, in an interview, stated that after receiving fame he was betrayed by his own family members for money and property and said,
  

  I have been cheated by many people in my life.. especially in the matter of money. No producer or director cheated me. I was deceived by my own people and blood relatives. All I got was no human beings. Because there are no people.. they have cheated. I have nothing left except a small complex in Bejawada Benz Circle.” ^[15]Telugu Samayam

• Sai Tejaswini, the granddaughter of Rajendra Prasad and daughter of Gayathri, played the role of young Savitri in the Telugu film Mahanati (2018).
  

  Rajendra Prasad with his granddaughter, Sai Tejaswini

• Reportedly, Rajendra Prasad’s daughter, Gayathri wanted to get married to the person of her choice. However, Rajendra was against her decision, and consequently, Gayathri left her father’s house and married the person of her choice. In an interview, Rajendra revealed that he was not on talking terms with his daughter after she left him and said,
  

  I have a Daughter named Gayatri. I stopped talking with her as she had gone away after Love Marriage. Upon listening to the song penned by Suddala Ashok Teja in ‘Bewars’, I felt like calling Gayatri to my home and make her listen to the song. ‘Thalli Thalli Na Chitti Thalli…Na Pranale Poyayamma’ Song is so close to my heart. I played this song 4 times repeatedly in the presence of My Daughter. I hadn’t shed tears when My Mom passed away but broke down when My Daughter left Me.”

• Reportedly, Rajendra Prasad’s films were immensely liked by the former Prime Minister of India P. V. Narasimha Rao. ^[16]iDream Telugu Movies – YouTube

• Rajendra was honoured with the title “Hasya Kireeti” by the Telugu Alliances of Canada at an event, which was held in Mississauga.