Kanta Rao

Kanta Rao Biography

Tadepalli Lakshmi Kanta Rao, popularly called Kanta Rao was a Telugu film maker and actor, who appeared in over 400 movies. Though he predominantly worked in Telugu, he has also acted in a few Hindi, Kannada and Tamil movies. He, along with N. T. Rama Rao and Akkineni Nageswara Rao ruled Telugu cinema in the 1960’s. He had a unique talent in portraying mythological characters, his best roles being Krishna, Arjuna and Narada. In 1961 he received Rashtrapati Award for the role of supporting role of Lakshmana in the Telugu mythological film - Lava Kusha. In 2000 Andhra Pradesh government honoured him with Raghupathi Venkaiah Award for his overall contributions to Telugu cinema. In 2007, his book ‘Anaganaga Oka Raakumaarudu’ received Nandi Award for Best Book too.

He was born in Kokad of present state of Telangana in 1923. He lost his father when he was only one year old. His primary education was done at Gudibanda and Khammam. He used to listen to the fairy tales and mythological stories told by his grandmother since early childhood. He got attracted to theatre plays and he established "Balamitra Natya Mandali" in his native village. His family sent him to Tenali to bring an end to his theatric activities. He shifted to Chennai in 1950 and got opportunity to assist film director for H. M. Reddy's Rohini Pictures. Thus his association with the entertainment world began.

He made his film debut through 1951 film Nirdoshi where he played a bit role. Two years later he made his debut as a hero. The movie was Pratigna. After that he acted in over 400 movies, playing lead roles as well as character roles. As a lead actor, he did over 100 films which include Jayasimha, Shri Krishna Pandaviyam etc. With the late 1960’s he turned a film producer. However he lost his full earnings with four films he made between 1969 and 1975. He has married twice.

Published: N/A

Updated: June 05, 2014