with the beginning of the talking films era in india in 1931, rao left for bombay (now mumbai). there, he was cast by actor and director p. k. raja sandow in the tamil language films "parijata pushpaharanam" (1932), "narada" (1932), "kovalan" (1933) and the telugu language film "ramadasu" (1933). rao appeared in lead roles in the latter two. following a stint in film, rao returned to bangalore and founded the shri sahitya samrajya nataka mandali (shri sahitya samrajya drama company) with subbaiah naidu, an actor and director, who would go on to influence kannada cinema greatly.