Kannada
actor
Shankar
Rao,
who
was
best
known
for
his
comic
roles
breathed
his
last
at
his
residence
in
Bengaluru
on
Monday
(October
18).
Reportedly,
he
was
undergoing
treatment
for
age-related
ailments
for
a
while
now.
He
was
84.
Rao
began
his
acting
career
as
a
theatre
artist.
He
started
his
own
theatre
group
named
Kalakshetra,
which
turned
out
to
be
a
huge
success.
One
of
his
plays,
Yara
Sakshi
garnered
immense
attention
from
the
audiences
and
paved
the
way
for
more
opportunities.
The
drama
was
based
on
British
author
Agatha
Christie's
short
story
The
Witness
for
the
Prosecution.
The
play
was
transformed
into
a
feature
film,
which
again
received
appreciation
from
all
quarters.
Shankar
Rao
went
on
to
share
screen
space
with
Kannada
superstars
including
Dwarkish,
Lokesh,
Upendra,
Puneeth
Rajkumar
and
Vishnuvardhan.
He
had
also
been
a
part
of
as
many
as
100
films.
His
performance
as
Boss
Balaraju
in
the
comedy
serial
Papa
Pandu
was
well
received.
The
veteran
actor's
best
films
include
Dhruva,
Siddlingu,
Vasmi,
and
Dhruva
among
many
others.