Kasturi Siva Rao

Kasturi Siva Rao
Screenshot of Rao
Born	Kakinada Andhra State, India (now in Andhra Pradesh, India)
Died	24 February 1966 Tenali, Andhra Pradesh
Nationality	Indian
Spouse	Shakuntala Kasturi
Children	Three Sons and Four Daughters
Parent(s)	Father: Kasturi Krishnanandan Mother: Kasturi Ramamma

Kasturi Siva Rao (Telugu: కస్తురి సివరావు; 6 March 1913 - 24 February 1966) was an Indian film actor, comedian, playback singer, producer and director known for his works in Telugu cinema. He was one of the first star comedians of Telugu cinema.

Kasturi Siva Rao started his career in the film industry as a movie narrator for the silent films produced at that time. Besides providing commentary, he was also a projector operator and had a unique humor to his fame. Theaters would advertise films as having "commentary by Siva Rao". He became an actor with the film Vara Vikrayam in 1939 and shot into the limelight with Chudamani in 1941. B N Reddy’s Swarga Seema in 1945 and Bala Raju in 1948 catapulted him to stardom.

He became a lead actor with the film Guna Sundari Katha in 1949, in which he played the role of a cursed prince. The movie became a huge hit and his mannerisms and dialogue were so popular that people started conversing in the same tone. He owned a Buick, which was a rare possession, and whenever people saw the car on roads they used to swarm the car and run along with it. Kasturi Siva Rao later on became a producer and director with the film Paramanandaiah Sishyulu in the year 1950.