Arja Janardhan Rao more popular for his role of Anjaneyaswamy in movies is no more. Arja Janardhan Rao breathed his last at a private nursing home in Hyderabad on Saturday. He was 81 and is survived by his wife and four children.

Arja Janardan hailed from Machilipatnam. He was voted Mister India in 1955 and Mister Asia in 1956. His personality and physique caught the attention of filmmakers and he landed a role in films in 1963.

His first film was Lava Kusa. He later went onto to act as Anjaneyaswamy in as many as 18 films including Sampoorna Ramayanam, Sri Krishna Sathya, Ramanjaneya Yuddam and Muthyala Muggu. He also played the role of Bheema in the film Sri Krishna Pandaveeyam.