He died of a heart attack in the early hours of Tuesday at his residence in Guntur. Since the lockdown, he was staying in Guntur. He was 73.

The family members say he collapsed in the bathroom following a heart attack.

Jaya Prakash Reddy, a teacher by profession, had a passion for acting from an early age. He used to act in stage plays in Guntur.

His first film was “Brahmaputrudu”. But he didn’t see much success back then. So he went back to Guntur and continued his teaching profession.

Nearly a decade later, he got his first big break with Venkatesh starrer “Preminchukundaam Raa”. The turning point was Balakrishna starrer “Samarasimha Reddy” (1999). These films established him as a villain.

The dialogue delivery in the Rayalaseema dialect and the menacing appearance made him became a favorite for filmmakers for playing villain roles.

“Nijam”, “Chenna Keshava Reddy”, “Seetayya”, “Evadi Gola Vaadidi”, “Chatrapathi”, “Ready”, “Gabbar Singh”, “Naayak” and the recent “Sarileru Neekevvaru” were some of the prominent films he had played varied both villain and comedy characters.

Dialogue delivery was his trump card.