Popular Telugu film comedian M S Narayana, without whose presence a Tollywood film's comedy track - some would say the film itself - has for years appeared incomplete, passed away this morning. He was 63.
Today's big release
Pataas too features the actor in a prominent role.
The hugely talented and prolific actor - he appeared in over 700 films - was suffering from kidney problems and Malaria, and had been hospitalized on Wednesday.
Needless to say, many Tollywood stalwarts condoled the demise of the artist on Twitter, and people including Venkatesh, S P Balasubramaniam, Ram Charan, Manchu Manoj, L B Sriram and Rao Ramesh, turned up at the funeral.
In a career spanning 3 decades, Narayana won several awards, including the Nandi 5 times. The death of Narayana will be felt strongly and deeply, and especially so coming in a year that saw several other Tollywood luminaries, including Srihari, Ahuti Prasad and Dharmavarapu Subrahmanyam, also pass away.