Early career (1977 – 1985) Prasad made his debut as an actor on the silver screen with the film
Sneham (1977), directed by
Bapu. Initially, he worked as a dubbing artist and played many supporting roles. He played a supporting role in the film
Ramarajyamlo Bheemaraju, starring
Krishna, which fetched him a chance in 14 films.
Breakthrough as a lead & comedy actor (1985 – 2004) Ramdas Padhye during the filming of
Ammo Bomma (2001). He was identified by director
Vamsy to play a lead role in his film,
Preminchu Pelladu. He rose to fame with
Vamsy's
Ladies Tailor. He continued to act in supporting roles while also playing lead roles. In a career of over 45 years, he acted in more than 200
Telugu films and few
Tamil films. Prasad has been called a
great comedy actor and is fondly called the
King of Comedy and
Natakireeti in
Andhra Pradesh. His collaboration with the director
Jandhyala in
Aha Naa Pellanta established him as an overnight star. He also made successful collaborations with directors
Vamsy,
E. V. V. Satyanarayana,
S. V. Krishna Reddy and
Relangi Narasimha Rao. Notably, Relangi made 32 films (out of 70 as a director) with Prasad.
Critically acclaimed roles (2004 – 2011) One major role which garnered him a lot of accolades was in the movie
Aa Naluguru, for which he won the State
Nandi Award for the second time in his career. Critically acclaimed films such as
Mee Sreyobhilashi and
Onamalu made him one of the most promising actors in Telugu film industry. He acted as
Lord Hanuman in the blockbuster multi-star film
Devullu. In 2009, Prasad played the titular role in the English-language film,
Quick Gun Murugun. The film was screened at the London Film Festival, the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles, the New York Asian Film Festival and at
The Museum of Modern Art, New York.
Supporting roles (2011 – present) '' (2016) with
Jr. NTR. He played remarkable characters as supporting artist in films such as
Julai,
Aagadu,
S/O Satyamurthy,
Srimanthudu and
Nannaku Prematho as well as elderly characters in films like
Dagudumoota Dandakore. Telugu people who emigrated abroad would take Prasad's movies along with them, such was the popularity and impact of his films on at least two generations of Telugu people. The then prime minister
P. V. Narasimha Rao too was a huge fan of Prasad. In 2015, he was elected President of Movie Artist Association (MAA), over actress
Jayasudha. His recent film,
Senapathi, is currently streaming on
Aha. ==Awards==