Senior Tollywood actor Chalapathi Rao passed away on the morning of Sunday, December 25, at his residence in Hyderabad. He suffered a cardiac arrest, according to reports. He was 78 years old. The actor was known for playing supporting roles including those of a comedian and villain in many Telugu movies. Chalapathi Rao is survived by his wife Indumathi, two daughters and his son Ravi Babu, who is also an actor and a filmmaker. Chalapathi Rao is among many veteran actors from the Telugu film industry who passed away this year, including Kaikala Satyanarayana, Krishna and Krishnam Raju.

Chalapathi Rao was born in Balliparru village of Krishna district in 1944. He reportedly entered the Telugu film industry with the encouragement of senior actor Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao. He has acted with three generations of movie stars from the Nandamuri family – NT Rama Rao, Balakrishna and Jr NTR. 

He made his debut with the 1966 film Gudachari 116 starring Krishna and Jayalalitha. He has acted in more than 600 films in a career spanning over six decades and has even produced a few films like Jagannatakam and Kaliyuga Krishnudu. He has appeared in many hit films including Sarrainodu, Bommarillu, Malliswari, Ninne Pelladata, Gulabi, Gharana Mogudu, Aditya 369 and Kondaveeti Donga. He was last seen in the 2022 film Bangarraju, starring Nagarjuna and Naga Chaitanya. 

Condolences poured in for the veteran actor from various quarters including Telugu film audiences. According to Eenadu, his body will be kept at his son Ravi Babu’s residence for fans and well-wishers to pay their respects on Sunday, and his last rites are likely to be performed after his daughter arrives from the United States.