The passing away of veteran Tollywood artist Rallapalli Venkata Narasimha Rao at a private hospital in Hyderabad on Friday has saddened the Telugu film industry. Rallapalli, as he used to be called, acted in as many as 800 films in a multitude of roles.

Megastar Chiranjeevi was one of the first celebs to condole Rallapalli's death. He said, "I had met Rallapalli garu for the first time when he was part of a drama troupe in Chennai. I was mesmerized by his acting in one of the dramas. He later entered the film industry and acted alongside me in so many movies. That's how my association with him became stronger as years passed. He would always talk to me affectionately. I happened to meet him recently after many years during the elections at MAA. I didn't know it would be the last meeting. I pray to God that his soul rests in peace. My deepest condolences to his bereaved family."

Srikanth said that he is deeply saddened by the news of the veteran's death. Production houses like Suresh Productions, Creative Commercials, AK Entertainments and others have also mourned Rallapalli's death.