KATHMANDU: Renowned Telugu actor Jaya Prakash Reddy has died at his residence in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday morning, after suffering a massive cardiac arrest at the age of74.

Reddy made his silver screen debut when he was in his 40s. He was working as a sub-inspector of police when he got an opportunity to act in Venkatesh’s 1988 film Brahma Puthrudu. However, his major break came ten years later with Nandamuri Balakrishna’s 1999 film Samarasimha Reddy.

Even as he became a most sought-after actor to play villainous roles in Telugu cinema, he was also equally good at doing comedy roles. In 2008 romantic-comedy Ready, he played a village hothead to great comical effect. Two years later, he reprised the role in the Tamil remake Uthamaputhiran, which had Dhanush in the lead role.

Jaya Prakash Reddy dubbed for himself in Tamil. Again, his grip on the language was flawless, which helped him deliver one of the funniest performances of his career. He was also seen in Tamil films like Aaru and Anjaneya.

With close to 100 films to his credit, Reddy’s demise has left a huge void in the film industry. Not many could whine, trash talk, grit one’s teeth in a way that was both sinister and rib-tickling at the same time. In that sense, he will remain irreplaceable.

Jaya Prakash Reddy is survived by his wife Radha and two sons, Niranjan and Dushyanth.

(with inputs from Agencies)