Taraka Ratna

Nandamuri Taraka Ratna (22 February 1983 – 18 February 2023) was an Indian actor who worked in Telugu cinema. After his debut in Okato Number Kurraadu (2003), he acted in several films as the lead actor, a few of them in the role of the antagonist.

Nandamuri Taraka Ratna was born on 22 February 1983 in Hyderabad, Telangana. He is the son of Nandamuri Mohana Krishna, a cinematographer in Telugu cinema. He is the grandson of Telugu actor and former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, N. T. Rama Rao.

Ratna was the cousin of actors Nandamuri Kalyan Ram and Jr. N.T.R, and politician Nara Lokesh. He is the nephew of actor and politician Nandamuri Balakrishna, actor and politician Nandamuri Harikrishna, and former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, N. Chandrababu Naidu.

Ratna made his debut with Okato Number Kurraadu (2002), writen and produced by K. Raghavendra Rao. Early in his career, Taraka Ratna signed on to several films at once including Yuva Rathna (2003), Taarak (2003), and Bhadradri Ramudu. His role as the antagonist in Amaravathi (2009), for which he received a Nandi Award, was well received.

On 27 January 2023, following the launch of Nara Lokesh's padayatra, Yuvagalam, Taraka Ratna suffered cardiac arrest in Kuppam, Andhra Pradesh. He was taken to a local hospital in Kuppam for treatment, but because of his critical condition he was transferred to a tertiary medical center, Narayana Institute of Cardiac Sciences, in Bengaluru, on 28 January 2023.

Ratna died on 18 February 2023, at the age of 39 in Benguluru.

Television

2009 – Nandi Award for Best Villain – Amaravathi