Popular Kannada actor and former union state minister, Ambareesh died on Saturday night at Bengaluru’s Vikram Hospital. He was 66. The actor-and-politico was admitted to hospital after he complained about the breathlessness in the evening hours. The doctors confirmed that the actor, who underwent diagnosis for respiratory and kidney problems in the past, passed away due to a massive cardiac arrest in Bengaluru.

Ambareesh was born at Mandya, Mysore in 1952. Along with another Kannada superstar Vishnu Vardhan, Ambareesh made his filmy debut with ‘Naagarahaavu’ in 1972. He married renowned south film actress Sumalatha in 1991 and their only son Abhishek Ambareesh only entered films this year.

Later in 1994, the actor joined Congress party and quit it after he was denied Mandya ticket. However, he rejoined Congress and served as Minister of State in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in ex-PM Manmohan Singh’s government.

Apart from Kannada, the actor appeared in all the south Indian languages including Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi as well. Several stars and politicians who could not cope up with the grief took to social media to pay tributes for Ambareesh. They include Superstar Rajinikanth, actress Radhika Sarath Kumar, former Karnataka Chief Minister Sadananda Gowda, Siddaramaiah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi also offered condolences to his family and admirers.