Allu Ramalingaiah award is special: Kota Srinivasa Rao

Veteran Telugu actor Kota Srinivasa Rao says the Allu Ramalingaiah Kalapeetam award, which he will receive Sep 30 here for his contribution to Telugu cinema, is special because actor Allu is one of his role models.

Late Telugu actor Allu Ramalingaiah is touted to be the only Telugu actor to have starred in over 1,000 films. He was also a Padma Shree awardee.

"I have received several state awards, but this one in particular is special because of the Allu tag. I grew up watching his films and he has personally had a lot of effect on me. This is definitely a very special award and I'm honoured to be chosen for it," Kota told IANS.

Kota has bagged the Allu Ramalingaiah Kalapeetam award for this year. Writer-actor Tanikella Bharani was conferred with the same award in 2012.

Having starred in over 300 Telugu films, Kota has previously bagged the prestigious Nandi award six times and one Filmfare award. However, he is yet to receive any central government recognition.

"I don't look forward to these honours. If such awards come to me, I may as well accept them, but worrying about it is not going to change anything. I feel there so many deserving actors across several industries who deserve such recognition," he said.

He has acted in a few Bollywood films too. He is best known for his role 'Silver' Mani in Ram Gopal Varma's "Sarkar".