Cinemaazi remembers Basavaraju Venkata Padmanabha Rao on his death anniversary
20 Feb 2010
A respected stage actor and popular comedian of Telugu cinema, Basavaraju Venkata Padmanabha Rao, better known as Padmanabham passed away on this day in 2010. Born on 20 August 1931, he got his break in cinema at the young age of 12 in Gudavalli Ramabrahmam's Mayalokam (1945). Shavukaru (1949) was his first big commercial success and he went on to feature in some of K V Reddy's major films. Other directors he worked with were Ghantasala Balaramayya and L V Prasad. At a certain point he was popular enough that roles were written keeping him in mind. In the sphere of theatre, he opened a theatre group with Vallam Narasimha Rao. He also turned director, and is credited with giving S P Balasubramanyam his break in his production Sri Sri Sri Maryada Ramanna (1967). His film Kathanayika Molla (1970), based on the life of the poet Molla fetched him the Nandi Award. Cinemaazi remembers him on his 10th death anniversary.
