Gollapudi Maruti Rao – Acclaimed Telugu film actor, writer and dramatist

Gollapudi Maruti Rao (1939 – 2019) was an actor and writer associated with Telugu cinema and theatre. He has written numerous plays and acted in many of them. He also owned a successful career in Telugu cinema as an actor, screenwriter and dialogue writer, apart from his eminent career as a writer. This acclaimed artist was a recipient of 6 Nandi awards belonging to 6 different categories apart from several radio and theatre awards. His award winning plays are Patita, Karuninchani Devatalu, Rendu Rellu Aaru, Mahanatudu, Aasayaalaku Sankellu, Kaalam Venakku Tirigindi etc. As a screenwriter, his best works include – Tharangini, Samsaram Chadharangam, Doctor Chakravarthy, Kallu etc. He acted in around 250 Telugu movies and excelled as a character artist.

Gollapudi Maruti Rao hailed from Vizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh. He graduated in Mathematical Physics in 1959. His professional career started as a playwright and many of his plays were award winning ones. He also exhibited his talents as an actor. He worked in AIR and was also associated with journalism for more than 2 decades. He served as an editor, commentator, presenter, author and actor during his association with AIR. As a writer, he was mostly known as a playwright who published 9 plays, 18 playlets, 4 short story collections, 2 essays and 4 children stories’ collection. He published one travelogue titled – Tanzania Teerthayatra, and autobiography work titled – Amma Kadupu Challaga.

Intlo Ramayya Veedhilo Krishnayya which released in 1982 marked his screen debut in Telugu. In year 1960 he has been featured in Bollywood film, Abdulla aside Mahipal and Shakila. His roles in Telugu movies – Kallu, Samasaram Oka Chadarangam, and Challenge are memorable. His power-packed phrases make him a popular writer and playwright of contemporary writing. Though he was suffering from age related ailments during his last years, he was active in films playing character roles. Manamantha, Ism and Jodi (2019) are among his last releases.

Gollapudi Maruti Rao – Some interesting and less-known facts

1. He served as a jury member of International Film Festival of India for Indian Panorama section in 1996.

2. He was a member of the Script Scrutiny Committee of National Film Development Corporation.

3. He established Gollapudi Srinivas Memorial Foundation in 1997. This foundation annually awards Gollapudi National Award for best debutant director in Indian cinema.

4. His essay on theater – Telugu Nataka Rangam was included in the academic syllabus of Department of Theatre Arts, Andhra University in 1967. Many other works have been a part of school and college studies.

5. As a columnist his weekly column “Jeevana Kaalam” was published in Andhra Jyothy newspaper for long 24 years.

6. At Nandi awards, his Atma Gowravam (1965) earned best story, followed by Tarangini (1983) for best comedian, Ramayanamlo Bhagavatham (1985) for best character actor, Mestri kapuram (1991) for best dialogues, Prema Pusthakam (1994) for best screenplay and finally best television actor in 1996. He won a total of 6 Nandi awards, interestingly all in different categories.

7. Apart from film awards he was also a recipient of numerous literary awards mostly for his plays.

8. He was also known for humorous writing and was a recipient of Sarvaraya Dharmanidhi Puraskaram for Best Humorous writing in 1983.

9. His play Vandemaataram was the first one in Telugu language about the Sino-Indian War.

10. He was the Chairman of Srikalahasti Pipes, when he passed away in 2019 at the age of 80.