Rajanala Kaleswara Rao

Rajanala Kaleswara Rao Naidu, popularly known as Rajanala, was an Indian filmactor known for his negative roles in Telugu filmdom during the 1950s and 1960s. He was born in Nellore, Andhra Pradesh. H. M. Reddy had introduced Rajanala through his film Prathigna (1953). Before coming to cinema, he won several awards and accolades for his acting in theatre. He was a villain against N.T.Rama Rao, an actor of Telugu filmdom at that time. Rajanala was the toast of Telugu filmworld. He was the king of villains and his cruel laugh went on to become such a hit that even children tried to imitate it. Rajanala acted in more than 400 movies in South Indian languages Telugu, Tamil and Kannada. He acted in two Hindi movies also, Farz and Jaadu Tona.[1]

Rajanala was working as a revenue inspector in Nellore from 1944–51. A post graduate in Philosophy from University of Lucknow and a voracious reader of English literature. Rajanala's acting was mostly through the movement of his eyes. He used to show the cruelty of a villain through his way of looking and widening of his eyes to various levels. He acted in over 150 Telugu films as villain. He was an actor from the district of Nellore. He was such a dominant villain on screen that he used to get remuneration equal to any Telugu lead actor of the time.

Rajanala in Bobbili Yuddham

Rajanala in Ave Kallu

Diabetic as he is, his right leg could not withstand the rigours of outdoor shooting in Araku valley in 1995 when he was playing a fullfledged role in Telugu Veera Levara. His leg which was injured during the shooting had to be amputated at Nizams Institute of Medical Sciences in November last. That was the end of any hope he had of surviving through odd roles. Rajanala had severe cardiac arrest, was admitted in Vijaya Hospital, Chennai. He died on 21 May 1998 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.