for his performance in "hannele chiguridaga" (1968), rao won the karnataka state film award for best actor. recognized for his contributions to cinema, he was awarded the padma shri by the government of india in 1976. rao had four children, three of whom were involved in film. his second son, r. n. krishna prasad, was a cinematographer, his third son, r. n. jayagopal, a screenwriter and lyricist and his youngest, r. n. sudarshan, an actor.