Raghu Babu – Popular comedian from Telugu cinema of ‘Bunny’ fame

Raghu Babu is a popular character artist and comedian from Telugu cinema, who has appeared in more than 150 films since early 2000s. He has also done brief roles in a couple of movies in the early 1990s. He is the son of veteran character and comic actor Giri Babu, and his brother Bose Babu is also a small-time actor. His role as Yadagiri in Gandhi Jayanthi Natakam earned him a nomination at Nandi awards. Mr and Mrs Sailaja Krishnamurthy, Brindavanam, Asthram, Aadi, Kabaddi Kabaddi and Bunny are a few memorable roles.

Raghu Babu was born into a filmy family in 1964, in Ravinuthala, Andhra Pradesh. At the age of 10, he started appearing in stage plays and his role in Sri Krishna Tulabaram was popular. He moved to Chennai while studying in grade 7, where he completed his studies. He failed in class 10. In 1988, he started assisting his father in film production and got married the same year. Though he has been a part of several plays earlier, he never had intensions to become a film actor. However taking the advice of director Satya Reddy, he joined films.

The director also offered him the first film role through Dongalu Unnaru Jagratha in 1990. The film flopped and after playing a few more unsuccessful roles he preferred to stay in the industry helping his father, and dreamt to become a producer. But later roles came in his way, and he started accepting them. In between he tried prawn farming, worked for Madras FM radio station and also became a part of television soaps. His role in Vasantha Kokila got noticed, and subsequently he got good offers from both films and television. As a film actor, his role as Soori in Bunny gave him the real break he was waiting for, and more comic roles came in his way.

Raghu Babu – Some interesting and less-known facts

1. He dreamt to become a film producer and became a popular comedian.

2. His father never thought that Raghu Babu will become a film actor. He assumed that Raghu’s younger brother would make big it in film industry and launched him through Indrajeeth in 1990. However Raghu established as a leading character artist of Telugu cinema.

3. He has been a part of Rallapalli’s acting troupe for a brief period.

4. Krishna Vamsi gave him commercial break through Murari and Khadgam. He played Sonali Bandre’s brother in Murari and Production Manager in Khadgam.