Basavaraju Venkata Padmanabha Rao popularly known as Padmanabham died due to heart attack here on Saturday. He was 79.
A Tollywood comedian of yesteryears Padmanbaham acted in nearly 400 films apart from being a film producer. Born in a tiny village of Simhadripuram of Pulivendula taluk Padmanabham hails from a ppor family. He maintained healthy professional relationships with comedians of his era - Relangi, Balakrishna and Siva Rao. Recently he acted in Telugu movies Chakram and Tata Birla Madhyalo Laila.
He began his tryst with the tinsel world in 1943 when he was just 12, when the legendary director Gudavalli Ramabrahmam gave him a break in Maayalokam. Since then, Padmanabham traversed a long distance by acting in more than 400 movies.
“If Ramabrahmam gave me a break in films, K.V. Reddy gave me some major hits. Shavukaaru in 1949 was my first major hit, and it also gave me a footing as a comedian. The very next year, Paatala Bhairavi came along and it helped me find a permanent place in the world of Telugu cinema,” Padmanabham recalled during one of his interviews with the media .
Padmanabham is proud that he never aspired for any role but directors sometimes designed certain roles exclusively for him.