Padmanabham (actor)

Padmanabham
Born
Basavaraju Venkata Padmanabha Rao

(1931-08-20)20 August 1931
Simhadripuram, Kadapa district, Andhra Pradesh, India
Died20 February 2010(2010-02-20) (aged 78)
Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Occupations
  • Actor
  • comedian
  • director
  • film producer
AwardsNandi Awards

Basavaraju Venkata Padmanabha Rao (20 August 1931 – 20 February 2010), known mononymously as Padmanabham, was an Indian actor, comedian, producer, and director who predominantly worked in Telugu cinema and Telugu theatre.[1][2] He is known for his comic expressions and dialogues.[3][4] In a career spanning over six decades, he acted in more than 400 films.[2]

Padmanabham made his film debut as a child actor in 1945 with Mayalokam. Shavukaru (1949) was his first major hit and gave him a footing as a comedian.[2] Pathala Bhairavi (1951) helped him find a permanent place in Telugu cinema.[3] He acted in small roles alongside Relangi and Ramana Reddy in the golden era of Telugu cinema in the 1950s and 1960s. Later, he became a prominent comedian and remained so till the mid-1970s when Rajababu burst on the scene and replaced him.[3]

He also directed eight films including Kathanayika Molla (1969), a biographical film which won him the state Nandi Award.[5][3] Padmanabham introduced S. P. Balasubrahmanyam to the film industry through Sri Sri Sri Maryada Ramanna (1967).[3][6][7]

  1. ^ "Going great guns". The Hindu. 25 August 2006. Archived from the original on 21 January 2007.
  2. ^ a b c "Actor Padmanabham no more". The Hindu. 21 February 2010. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Popular comedian Padmanabham is dead". The New Indian Express. 21 February 2010. Archived from the original on 3 June 2016. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  4. ^ Lakshmi Nivasam Songs - Soda Soda Andhra - Padmanabham. 16 March 2013. Archived from the original on 15 December 2021 – via YouTube.
  5. ^ "నంది అవార్డు విజేతల పరంపర (1964–2008)" [A series of Nandi Award Winners (1964–2008)] (PDF). Information & Public Relations of Andhra Pradesh. Retrieved 21 August 2020.(in Telugu)
  6. ^ Murali, S. (25 September 2020). "S.P. Balasubrahmanyam: The end of an era". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 26 September 2020. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
  7. ^ "A very RARE picture of SP Balasubrahmanyam goes viral". The Times of India. 5 October 2020. Retrieved 9 August 2022.