Potti Veerayya ( – 25 April 2021) was an Indian actor and comedian who predominantly acted in

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

films. A

dwarf Dwarf or dwarves may refer to: Common uses *Dwarf (folklore), a being from Germanic mythology and folklore * Dwarf, a person or animal with dwarfism Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities * Dwarf (''Dungeons & Dragons''), a humanoid ...

by birth, he acted in more than 500 films, mostly in

along with

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...

, and

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

films. He acted in notable films like ''

Aggi Veerudu ''Aggi Veerudu'' ( Fire Martial) is a 1969 Telugu-language swashbuckler film, produced by B. Vittalacharya under the Sri Vital Combines banner and directed by B. V. Srinivas. It stars N. T. Rama Rao and Rajasree, with music composed by Vijaya ...

'' (1969), '' Tata-Manavadu'' (1972), ''Radhamma Pelli'' (1974), '' Jaganmohini'' (1978), ''

Yugandhar ''Yugandhar'' is a 1979 Indian Telugu-language action film, produced by P. Vidya Sagar on Sri Gajalakshmi Arts banner and directed by K. S. R. Das. The film stars N. T. Rama Rao, Jayasudha, and music composed by Ilaiyaraaja. It is a remake of ...

'' (1979), ''Gaja Donga'' (1981), ''Tarzan Sundari'' (1983).

Early life

Hailing from

Phanigiri Phanigiri is a Buddhist site in Suryapet district, Telangana. It dates to the 1st Century BCE - 4th century CE period. The site is a major discovery in the history of the early India. It is closely related to the stupa complexes at Amaravati an ...

village of Suryapeta district,

Telangana Telangana (; , ) is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian subcontinent, Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India b ...

, he was born as Gattu Veerayya. He was a

by birth and stood just two feet. He was attracted to stage plays, drama and films since his childhood. Before commencing his career as a film actor, he was a

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

artiste.

Film career

His passion for acting landed him in

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

where he met actor

Sobhan Babu Sobhan Babu (born Uppu Sobhana Chalapathi Rao; 14 January 1937 – 20 March 2008) was an Indian actor known for his works in Telugu cinema.Bangaru Panjaram in Venditera Paatalu, Krishnasastri Sahityam, third volume, Vishalandhra Publishing House ...

while working in a shop selling flowers for film sets. As Veerayya was a dwarf, Sobhan Babu advised him to meet directors like

B. Vittalacharya B. Vittalacharya (28 January 1920 – 28 May 1999) was an Indian film director and producer known for his works in Telugu and Kannada cinema. He was known as ''Janapada Brahma'' in the Telugu film industry. Vittalacharya formed his film prod ...

for suitable roles in their films. On his advice, Veerayya met Vittalacharya who cast him in the film ''Aggidora'' (1967) featuring Kanta Rao and

N. T. Rama Rao Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao (28 May 1923 – 18 January 1996), often referred to by his initials NTR, was an Indian actor, filmmaker and politician who served as Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh for seven years over three terms. He starred ...

. Later, he acted in films like ''

'' (1969), '' Tata-Manavadu'' (1972), ''Radhamma Pelli'' (1974), '' Jaganmohini'' (1978), ''

'' (1979), ''Gaja Donga'' (1981), ''Attagaari Pettanam'' (1981), ''Tarzan Sundari'' (1988). His characters mostly used to be that of a clown or a small demon in folklore films. He has acted in more than 500 films in

, and

languages. During an interview, he mentioned that Raja Babu and

Dasari Narayana Rao Dasari Narayana Rao (4 May 1947 – 30 May 2017) was an Indian film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, lyricist, and politician known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema, in addition to Hindi cinema. He has directed more than 150 ...

had encouraged him in the initial phase of his career. In 2007,

OneIndia Oneindia.com is an Indian website established in January 2006 by BG Mahesh. The website provides news updates, information on sports, events, travel, entertainment, business, lifestyle, videos, and classifieds in seven different Indian language ...

reported that he was living in poverty. Knowing his plight,

Chiranjeevi Chiranjeevi (born Konidela Sivasankara Varaprasad; 22 August 1955) is an Indian actor, film producer and former politician, who predominantly works in Telugu cinema. Chiranjeevi starred in over 150 feature films in Telugu language, Telugu, as ...

had extended monetary help of 2

lakh A lakh (; abbreviated L; sometimes written lac) is a unit in the Indian numbering system equal to one hundred thousand (100,000; scientific notation: 105). In the Indian 2,2,3 convention of digit grouping, it is written as 1,00,000. For ex ...

Personal life

He had three daughters. His youngest daughter Vijayadurga is an actor in the Telugu film industry. His wife Mallika passed away in 2008.

Death

He died on 25 April 2021, aged 74 or 75, at a private hospital in

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

due to heart-related ailments.

Filmography

* ''Aggidora'' (1967) * ''

'' (1969) * ''

Tata Manavadu ''Thatha-Manavadu'' () is a 1973 Indian Telugu-language film written and directed by Dasari Narayana Rao in his debut. The film stars S. V. Ranga Rao and Raja Babu in the titular roles. ''Thatha-Manavadu'' featured Raja Babu, who had mostly ac ...

'' (1972) * ''Radhamma Pelli'' (1974) * '' Jaganmohini'' (1978) * ''

'' (1979) * '' Sri Rama Bantu'' (1979) * ''Gaja Donga'' (1981) * ''Gola Nagamma'' (1981) * ''Attagaari Pettanam'' (1981) *'' Tarzan Sundari'' (1983) as Tribal Chief * ''

Samsaram Oka Chadarangam ''Samsaram Oka Chadarangam'' () is a 1987 Indian Telugu-language drama film produced by M. Saravanan and M. Balasubramanian of AVM Productions and directed by S. P. Muthuraman. The film stars Gollapudi Maruthi Rao, Sarath Babu, Rajendra Pra ...

'' (1987) as Washerman *

Brahma Putrudu ''Brahma Putrudu'' is a 1988 Telugu-language film directed by Dasari Narayana Rao and produced by D. Ramanaidu under the Suresh Productions banner. It stars Venkatesh and Rajani , with music composed by Chakravarthy. The film was a remake of t ...

(1988)

References

External links

* 2021 deaths 20th-century Indian male actors Telugu male actors Indian male comedians Telugu comedians Male actors in Telugu cinema Indian male film actors Male actors in Kannada cinema Male actors in Malayalam cinema Male actors in Tamil cinema People from Suryapet district Kannada comedians Tamil comedians Malayalam comedians 1947 births {{India-film-actor-stub