An actor, theatre artist, screenwriter, dramatist, playwright, and dialogue writer Gollapudi Maruti Rao known for his works in Telugu cinema, Telugu theatre and Telugu Literature, passed away in Chennai on Thursday. He was 80. Celebrities from the Telugu film industry also taking their Twitter to express their condolences.
Gollapudi Maruti Rao had been undergoing treatment for age-related ailments. And today he took his last breath.
Gollapudi Maruti Rao was undergoing treatment at Lifeline Hospital in T Nagar after falling ill and succumbed at around 12 noon.
Gollapudi Maruthi Rao was born in 1939 in Vizianagaram in Madras Presidency, Andhra Pradesh. He attended Andhra University in Visakhapatnam. He is not only known for the innumerable roles he has portrayed, but also for the many works of literature he has penned.
Gollapudi Maruti Rao acted in over 230 films and won over six Nandi awards from the State government.
His popular movies are Chakravarthy, Tharangini, Samsaram Chadharangam, and Kallu among more. Gollapudi Maruti Rao was a member of the Script Scrutiny Committee of National Film Development Corporation and served as a Jury Member at the International Film Festival of India for the Indian Panorama section in the year 1996. Gollapudi Maruti Rao is known for scripting landmark films like Doctor Chakravarthy, Tharangini, Samsaram Chadharangam, Kallu, etc.
In 1997, Gollapudi Maruti Rao established the Gollapudi Srinivas Memorial Foundation, which presents the Gollapudi National Award, for the best first film of a director in Indian cinema.
Gollapudi Maruti Rao was last seen in Aadi Saikumar’s starrer movie Jodi, which released this year. He also worked as a screenplay and dialogue writer for both movies and drama as well as penned numerous novels, plays, and playlets among other literature.
The loss of Gollapudi Maruthi Rao is being mourned by several noted writers and members of the Telugu film fraternity.
www.tollywood.net conveys deep condolences to his family in the time of their grief.