Harinath

Published on August 2, 2006 in Artists

Pending cleanup , corrections

Venkata Appala Haranath Raju Buddharaju (Telugu: హరనాథ్) (September 2, 1936 – November 1, 1989) was a popular Tollywood film actor. He was born in Raparthi Village, East Godavari Andhra Pradesh

Harinath acted in a number of plays during his college days, and won many awards. One day while buying shoes in Pandi Bazaar, Director Gutta Ramineedu saw him and picked him for the hero’s role in the movie, ‘Maa Inti Mahalakshmi’ (1959) , first film shot at Saradhi Studios in Hyderabad. His performance in the movie earned him a place next only to that of Akinneni Nageswara Rao and N.T. Rama Rao. For his first venture as producer and director, NTR picked Haranath for the role of Lord Sri Rama in ‘Sitarama Kalyanam’. The song sequence, ‘Andala o chilaka, anduko na lekha,’ featuring Haranath in the movie ‘Letamanasulu’ enthralled the whole of Andhra Pradesh those days. Movies like Palamanasulu, Pelliroju, etc., with Haranath and Jamuna as the lead pairs were tremendous successes.

Addicted to alcohol, he limited himself with guest roles in the subsequent movies. His last film was “Naagu” 1984 where he played as the father of the hero casting Chiranjeevi. He died on 1st November 1989 in Madras – now called Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

Harinath was married and is survived by his son Srinivas Buddharaju and a daughter Padma, who is marreid to G.V.G.Raju, a noted telugu film producer.

Filmography: