S. V. Ranga Rao

Samarla Venkata Ranga Rao July 3 1918 July 18 1974 known professionally as S V Ranga Rao or SVR was an Indian actor director and producer who worked predominantly in Telugu and Tamil cinema After early work on stage and an initial film appearance in Varudhini 1946 he gained widespread recognition as the sorcerer Nepala Manthrikudu in the fantasy swashbuckler Pathala Bhairavi 1951 Over the 1950s and 1960s he became a central character actor and antagonist across South Indian cinema playing major roles in the social comedy Missamma 1955 the historical drama Tenali Ramakrishna 1956 the fantasy film Mayabazar 1957 and the comedy Gundamma Katha 1962 For his portrayal of Keechaka in the mythological film Narthanasala 1963 he won the Best Actor Award at the 3rd AfroAsian Film Festival in Jakarta In addition to Telugu cinema Ranga Rao worked extensively in Tamil productions with prominent roles in Annai 1962 Karpagam 1963 Enga Veettu Pillai 1965 and the historical biographical film Kappalottiya Thamizhan 1961 In the late 1960s he expanded into directing and producing helming the social dramas Chadarangam 1967 and Bandhavyalu 1968 both of which won Nandi Awards His later screen appearances included Dasara Bullodu 1971 Sampoorna Ramayanam 1972 Tata Manavadu 1973 and Andaru Dongale 1974 concluding with the posthumously released devotional feature Yashoda Krishna 1975