Actor Chalapathi Rao, has been the centre of many jokes like 'Senior most Junior Villain' and 'All-India Babai' as he got famous for doing those roles in 90's and 2000's with the emergence of new age Cinema. Like him, even Prakash Raj has been stereotyped like today's Murali Sharma as 'Father of the Nation'. Stereo-typing a character or an artist has been a part and parcel of our Industry right from R. Nageswara Rao days, who is the first social Villain on screen.
Even though SV Ranga Rao got famous for his villainous roles, he did deviate from them and established himself as a great character actor. But Gummadi Venkateswara Rao, could not escape from being stereotyped as a father, elder brother or a villain who will die catching is heart in an emotional outburst. Like that, Chalapathi Rao in his career starting days got stereotyped as Rapist like Ranjith in Hindi Cinema.
Whenever any women or an young girl used to come on screen with him looking at her from a distance, immediately audience used to predict it is a rape scene. Talking about that image in one his interviews, Chalapathi Rao said, "Several actors long for certain kind of image and I got an image of a rapist on screen. People used scold me and hurl abuses on screen whenever I appeared in such scenes and I used to take them as compliments for my work."
He further said, "One day i went to a theatre with my Aunt and in the movie, a rape scene started. In that one young lady started walking towards my den and a woman sitting in front of my seat said, "Please don't go near that person my sister, he will rape you, Please", my aunt tried to stop her and talk to her that I am a good man but I stopped her and said, enjoy the movie. I liked that kind of sympathy towards the woman characters as that is what the directors aimed with the scene by making me a villain. It is also a validation that my work has reached the audience."
Even though SV Ranga Rao got famous for his villainous roles, he did deviate from them and established himself as a great character actor. But Gummadi Venkateswara Rao, could not escape from being stereotyped as a father, elder brother or a villain who will die catching is heart in an emotional outburst. Like that, Chalapathi Rao in his career starting days got stereotyped as Rapist like Ranjith in Hindi Cinema.
Whenever any women or an young girl used to come on screen with him looking at her from a distance, immediately audience used to predict it is a rape scene. Talking about that image in one his interviews, Chalapathi Rao said, "Several actors long for certain kind of image and I got an image of a rapist on screen. People used scold me and hurl abuses on screen whenever I appeared in such scenes and I used to take them as compliments for my work."
He further said, "One day i went to a theatre with my Aunt and in the movie, a rape scene started. In that one young lady started walking towards my den and a woman sitting in front of my seat said, "Please don't go near that person my sister, he will rape you, Please", my aunt tried to stop her and talk to her that I am a good man but I stopped her and said, enjoy the movie. I liked that kind of sympathy towards the woman characters as that is what the directors aimed with the scene by making me a villain. It is also a validation that my work has reached the audience."