Kalpana Rai

Kalpana Rai Biography

Kalpana Rai was a south Indian actress who predominantly worked in Telugu cinema. She excelled in comic roles, and owns many hilarious comedy scenes to her credit. She acted in more than 430 films, and is known to be a prominent character artist of Telugu cinema. She made her debut as an actress with the film O Seeta Katha in 1974. Her dialogues delivered in Godhavari dialect of Telugu were instant hits then, and still loved by movie buffs. Though she owned a glorious career in Telugu cinema, she died penniless in 2008. She also received financial help from a few people and organizations during her last days.

Kalpana Rai was born in Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh in May 9, 1950. Initially she was a stage actress. Her experience in theatre opened her doors towards the world of Telugu cinema. She marked her debut with O Seeta Katha in 1974. The movie was directed by K. Vishwanath, and starred Kanta Rao, Chandra Mohan and Roja Ramani in lead roles. In the career spanning to more than three decades she did around 400 character roles, and many of her comedy roles are memorable. Her unforgettable dialogues are in Godhavari dialect of Telugu, which earned her a lot of recognition and fans too.

Her last film was Soggadu (2005). Thus she completed 30 years in Telugu cinema. Because of her health issues she couldn’t work in movies further. Some of her noted roles include – Needa Leni Aadadi, Adavalle Aligithe, Karu Diddina Kapuram, Captain Nagarjun, Kodallostunnaru Jagratta, Aapadbandhavudu, Doctor Malathi, Hitler, Priyamaina Neeku, Itlu Sravani Subramanyam, Allari and Soggadu. She passed away on 6 February 2008.

Published: January 04, 2020

Updated: January 04, 2020