Veteran actor, writer, director and producer Raavi Kondala Rao died on Tuesday due to cardiac arrest at a private hospital here, hospital sources said. Rao (88) had acted and associated with over 600 south Indian movies mainly in Telugu.
He is survived by his son while wife Radha Kumari, also an actor with over 600 movies to her credit, predeceased him in 2012.
The couple had co-acted in several movies. He made his debut with Telugu movie Sobha in 1958 as an actor. Before venturing into movies, he worked as an editor, writer and columnist for English and Telugu dailies and weeklies.
Former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu and actor-turned politician Pawan Kalyan were among those who condoled the death of the veteran film personality.