Gundu Hanumantha Rao passes away at 61

Veteran Tollywood comedian

Gundu Hanumantha Rao

passed away at his residence in Hyderabad early on Monday morning. He was 61. The actor, who was not keeping well for some time, suffered a heart attack around 3.30 am and was rushed to a nearby private hospital. But the actor had breathed his last by then.
He is survived by his son who had come back from the US to look after his ailing father. Hanumantha Rao was badly affected by the death of his daughter and later, that of his wife Jhansi in an accident in 2010, and was facing a financial crunch in the latter part of his life. In recent times, Mega Star Chiranjeevi, the Telangana government and other like-minded individuals and organisations had extended financial assistance to the veteran actor.
Born on October 10, 1956 in Vijayawada to Sarojini and Kantha Rao, Hanumantha Rao had acted in over 400 films. He first donned the greasepaint for a stage play, Ravana Brahma at the age of 18. Legendary director Jandhayala, who had come as the chief guest for a stage play Idi Yemiti, in which Hanumantha Rao was playing an important character, in Madras in 1985, was so impressed with his performance that he had offered him a role in the cult classic Aaha Naa Pellanta (1987) marking the latter’s debut in Tollywood.
Hanumantha also had a very successful stint with TV and was an integral part of the hugely popular comic serial Amrutham, in which his character Anji endeared to many. He received the Nandi Award thrice for his roles in television serials. He was a regular in Jandhayala, K Vasu and SV Krishna Reddy’s films with Kobbari Bondam, Mayalodu, Rajendrudu Gajendrudu, Vinodam, Ghatotkachudu and Yamaleela being among some of his memorable ones.
“We had acted together for the first time in Satyagraham. Later, Aaha Naa Pellanta gave us a huge break. I’ve very few friends and Gundu (Hanumantha Rao) was one of them. He used to address me as ‘Baava’, that’s how close we were. We had last met on February 1 when he had come over to my residence and we had lunch together. He was in good health then and the news of his
passing away has come us as a huge shock to me,” said a teary-eyed Brahmanandam, Tollywood’s ace comedian.
"The friendship between Hanumantha Rao, Brahmanandam and myself goes back more than 30 years. Our careers started at the same time. I played the role of a hero in a film called Kallu in which Hanumantha Rao played a very important character. He used to share every detail of his life with me. He never went empty-handed to anyone's house but never asked for anyone's help in return. He was an excellent human being. Movie Artistes Association (MAA) will stand by his family and extend all possible support," said Sivaji Raja, actor and president of MAA.