Rao Ramesh is a popular South Indian actor who mainly works in Telugu, Kannada, and Tamil films. He mainly plays the supporting character in the films. Apart from films, he has also acted in the Telugu theatre and TV serials.
Table of Contents
Wiki/Biography
Rao Ramesh was born on Saturday, 25 May 1968 (age 53 years; as of 2021) in Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh and brought up in Chennai. His zodiac sign is Gemini. He did his schooling at Sri Ramakrishna Mission School in T. Nagar, Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Later, he pursued B.Com in Chennai and did a course in Mass Communication. He then did a professional course in still photography.
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 5′ 6″
Hair Colour: Black
Eye Colour: Black
Family
Parents & Siblings
His father, Rao Gopal Rao, was a renowned South Indian actor who was born in the Rajas dynasty. His mother, Kamala Kumari, belonged to the family of Karnatic musicians, and she used to be a Harikatha exponent and philosopher.
Rao Ramesh’s parents
His brother, Rao Kranthi Kumar, worked as a senior systems analyst in a software company in Tampa, USA. His sister’s name is Sitadevi.
Wife & Children
Rao Ramesh is married and is blessed with a son and a daughter.
Rao Ramesh with his wife
Career
Telugu
He was supposed to make his debut in the TV series directed by the South Indian director Ghantasala Ratna Kumar in around 2001 or 2002, but the project was shelved. He then appeared in a few Telugu TV serials like ‘Pavithra Bandham’ and ‘Kalavari Kodalu.’ In 2002, he debuted in the Telugu film ‘Seema Simham’ in which he played the role of Hema’s brother. He has played prominent roles in many Telugu films such as ‘Avakai Biryani’ (2008), ‘Magadheera’ (2009), ‘Attarintiki Daredi’ (2013), ‘S/O Satyamurthy’ (2014), ‘A Aa’ (2016), ‘RX100’ (2018), and ‘Jersey’ (2019).
Ramesh Rao in Attarintiki Daredi
As of 2021, he is filming for the Telugu films ‘Bheemla Nayak,’ ‘Bangarraju,’ and ‘Anni Manchi Sakunamule.’
Tamil
He made his Tamil debut with the film ‘Kadhalna Summa Illai’ (2009) in which played the character of Dalit. He then appeared in a few more Tamil films including ‘Easan’ (2010), ‘Saagasam’ (2016), and ‘Jai Bhim’ (2021).
Rao Ramesh in Jai Bhim
Kannada
Ramesh Rao has also acted in the Kannada films such as ‘Jaguar’ (2016) and ‘K.G.F: Chapter 2’ (2022).
Rao Ramesh in ‘Jaguar’ (2016)
Facts/Trivia
While he was in class 12, he wanted to drop out of school and wanted to learn still photography. He used to go to the British Library and the American library to study books on photography. There he spent hours reading the books, and one of his favourite books was C Narayana Reddy’s work ‘Kavitha Naa Chirunama.’
In an interview, while remembering his struggling days, he said,
I joined KS Prakasa Rao (brother of K Raghavendra Rao) as an assistant. But he did not give any petty work because of the respect he carries towards my father. During that time cinematographer VSR Swamy encouraged me and sent me to a friend of his at Bangalore. I learnt about industrial photography over there. They used Cinar cameras which costs around 16 lakhs each. I also applied for a course in live action and animation in The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, California. But my parents did not want to get into it.”
He further added,
Some people advised me to produce a film and I tried doing that with a popular director, but I lost money as the film never started. I also started a mushroom business in Chennai, but it didn’t take off. At that time, my mother advised me to try my hand at acting. Since I respect her words, I decided to try acting and shifted to Hyderabad. I then called writer and actor Omkar. He promised to give me a role in his serial, and the very next day, I got a call from Balaji Telefilms citing his reference.”
In 1994, he wanted to study photography and animation in the US, but due to his father’s demise in the same year, he cancelled his plans.
In an interview, he was asked, if he had any regrets regarding his father, he replied,
Yes. I should have interacted with him for more time. My conversation with him during the entire lifetime would not exceed a page. He was like a tiger when he was home. I wish I had interacted with him more and shared lots of joys with him like many of my friends used to do with their respective parents.”
Initially, he used to get Rs. 1500 for his role in the films.
During an interview, while talking about his co-star Suriya in the Tamil film ‘Jai Bhim,’ he said,
I had a great experience working with Suriya for the first time in my career. While I had already heard a lot of people praising him, I could witness his dedication and hard work personally while shooting for ‘Jai Bhim’. He is a cool and composed person and is always helping people on the sets. I also got to know about his humanitarian side – he has been helping many children receive an education. He is a real-life hero.”