Veteran Telugu actor Chalapathi Rao dies at 78; Celebrities pay tributes to 'Babai of Tollywood'

New Delhi, Dec 26: Veteran actor Chalapathi Rao passed away on Saturday night. He was 78, family said on Sunday. He acted in over 600 films portraying various characters, industry sources said. His son Ravi Babu is also an actor, director, and producer in Tollywood.

Rao is survived by a son and two daughters. His wife passed away long back. His final rights will be held on Wednesday at Mahaprasthanam, Jubilee Hills.

"It is very sad that so many of our people are going away," producer D Suresh who visited the bereaved family said.

Born as Tammareddy Chalapathi Rao in Balliparru village of Krishna district in 1944, the actor turned to the film industry after being encouraged by Nandamuri Tarakarama Rao (NTR).

Rao acted in several Telugu movies as a supporting actor and villain in the films of NT Rama Rao, Krishna, Akkineni Nagarjuna, Chiranjeevi and Venkatesh. He is well known for his films such as Yamagola, Yugapurushudu, Justice Chaudhary, Bobbili Puli, Ninne Pelladata, and Allari.

Rao became so popular in the father and uncle roles in Tollywood that he earned the sobriquet Babai (meaning 'uncle' in Telugu). His costars used to fondly refer to him as Babai even off the screen. He debuted as a character artist and was a popular villain. He was first seen on the screen alongside Superstar Krishna in 'Goodcharai 116' released in the year 1966. He worked with actors of three generations starting with NTR, Chiranjeevi-Nagarjuna, Venkatesh, and many others to date.

Chalapathi Rao is best known for characters of goons, who assault women in films. His characters in films like Yamagola, Yuga Purushuda, Driver Ramudu, Akbar Saleem Anarkali, Bhale Krishnudu, Sarada Ramudu, Justice Chowdary, Simhadri, Bobbili Puli, Chattam Tho Poratam, Arundhathi, Dammu, Legend, Allari, Allare Allari, Ninne Pelladutha, Nuve Kavali, Bunny, and Simha among others received a great reception. He was last seen in Bangarraju starring Nagarjuna and Naga Chaitanya.

After becoming a successful actor, Chalapathi Rao turned producer and bankrolled films like Kaliyuga Krishnudu, Kadapa Reddamma, Jagannatakam, Pellante Noorella Panta. Although he started his career playing the conman characters, he was versatile. Chalapathi Rao frightened the viewers as well as made them laugh. Allari Naresh's film 'Allari', directed by his son Ravi Babu is a classic example of his acting capacities.

As soon as word of Chalapathi Rao's demise spread, his colleagues and movie lovers turned to social media to express their condolences. Actor and Jana Sena party chief Pawan Kalyan in statement condoled Chalapathi Rao's death.

The actor and producer Nandamuri Kalyan Ram sent his sympathies to Rao's family via his official Twitter account.

Andhra Pradesh Tourism Minister and former actress RK Roja said that Chalapathi Rao was a very positive person and his demise was huge loss to the film industry.

This is the second significant loss to Tollywood in the last three days after Chalapathi Rao's death. Earlier, Veteran Telugu actor Kaikala Satyanarayana, known for his villain and other character roles, had passed away on December 23.