Comedian Mallikarjuna Rao is no more

Mallikarjuna Rao, who became popular with his 'Battala Satti' role in 'Ladies Tailor', passed away at a corporate hospital in Hyderabad in the early hours of July 24. Mallikarjuna Rao did comedy roles in many Telugu films and reaped good laughs on the screen throughout his career.

Though he is a comedian on the screen, he was quite serious outside and he served the film industry in the capacity of MAA (Movie Artistes Association) secretary. He was admitted to Apollo Hospital in Hyderabad two days ago following a complaint of acute leukaemia. He was admitted to the hospital in a critical condition and doctors had lost hopes on his survival but kept him under strict medical observation.

It is worth mentioning here that the doctors claimed 48 hours time to announce the chances for his survival. True to their expectations, he died before the said time. After he was kept in hospital, popular film personalities including Chiranjeevi, Nagababu, Brahmanandam, Venumadhav and others visited the hospital to inquire about his health. He breathed his last in the early hours of Tuesday.