Underworld don turned actor passes away

Former underworld don Muthappa Rai passed away this morning losing his battle with brain cancer which he announced in January 2020.  He was 68 and is survived by his second wife  Anuradha , whom he married in 2016 and also has two children from his first wife Rekha Rai who passed away in 2013.  A statement has said that due to COVID 19 no one would be allowed to attend the funeral except close family members as the last rites are held in Bengaluru.

Muthappa Rai started his career as a shy bank clerk in Vijaya Bank but later took to crime and got his shot at fame after murdering the reigning don MP Jairaj, in broad daylight in 1990.  He then ascended in the ranks as Bengaluru’s number one underworld figure and is even said to have had ties with Dawood Ibrahim gang.  He survived an attempt on his life in 1991 when he survived five bullets and from then on capitalized on the real estate boom and built an empire worth several hundred crores.  In later years he started a non-profit organization ‘Jaya Karnataka’.

Muthappa Rai who dressed stylishly and was very educated unlike the stereotype dons also had a passion for acting and starred as the lead in his mother tongue Tulu titled ‘‘Kanchilda Baale’ in 2011 and the Kannada film ‘Katari Veera Surasundarangi’ produced by the controversial politician Muniratna.  

A biopic on the Muthappa’s life title ‘Rai’ was made by Ram Gopal Varma in 2016 with Vivek Oberoi playing the lead but the film never got released due to various circumstances.