Is actress Tessa Rao Indian? Is Rao an Indian last name or does it belong to other countries as well?

 Actress Tessa Rao appears like an Indian with black hair and black eyes, her surname Rao is also like Indian's surname but she is not an Indian, she is an actress from New Zealand. She was born in 1998 in Auckland, New Zealand. She did graduation in Trinity College, London and in the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.

Since 2017 she is in the acting field, she made her filmy debut with the 2017’s film Into The Rainbow. Tessa Rao is known for her role Izzy Garcia in Power Rangers Dino Fury and Power Rangers Cosmic Fury.

She got popularized with the role of Poppy Achari in the TV series Shortland Street in 2025.

Tessa Rao considers her mother as her hero for supporting her in her good and bad times.

When we refer to the surname Rao,

The surname Rao is not only prevalent in India but in other countries also people use Rao as their surname. It has been prevailing in the countries like China, United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Brazil and Italy.

In India the surname Rao is commonly used in Karnataka especially in coastal Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Haryana. Rao is a surname and a title derived from the Sanskrit word Raja that is King.

In Karnataka and Goa, Rao is usually the surname of Brahmins.

In Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, the people of Kamma, Velama and Telugu Brahmin communities use this surname.

In North India Rao surname prevails with the people of Yadav community from the states Haryana and Delhi. It is also associated with Jat community particularly in Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab. In Maharashtra, it is used by the Marathas.

The surname Rao in China has a distinct origin, in Chinese it means rich and abudant.

Rao is the 181st most common used surname in China shared by about 7,30,000 people with the most people living in Jiangxi province. It has originated nearly 2,200 years ago in Shanxi province.

Rao is found in United States, United Kingdom and Canada due to migration of the people from India and China.

The surname Rao is found in Italy where it is the shortened form of the German word Radulfo.

In Brazil also the surname Rao is prevailing mainly due to immigration and Portugese influence.

So, the surname Rao belongs to other countries as well apart from India. But Rao is not a surname of New Zealand origin but one may get the citizenship of New Zealand with this surname mainly due to the large number of immigrants from India and from other countries like Italy and China which have the roots of the surname Rao.

How did Kota Srinivasa Rao get to act in more than 750 films?

 Kota Srinivasa Rao was the most able actor in Telugu Film Industry. Unfortunately, the well known veteran actor of Telugu film industry, Kota Srinivasa Rao passed away on Sunday the 13th, July 2025 at the age of 83 years due to prolonged illness. He took his last breath in the early hours at his residence, Film Nagar, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad. He passed away just after 3 days of his 83rd birthday which was on 10th July, 2025.

It's a big disappointment for the people of Telugu Film industry and for Telugu people. Several well known personalities of Tollywood expressed their deep grief and appreciated Srinivasa Rao for his extraordinary acting skills. Actor Chiranjeevi who acted with him in numerous films, expressed his deep grief and said that Srinivasa Rao's range of characters and the modulation in his voice during the dialogue delivery was unmatched. Chiranjeevi called him a complete artist, he performed every character brilliantly and only he could do justice to his roles.

Actor Ravi Teja on Srinivasa Rao's demise shared that he grew up by watching his performances and learnt many things from him and he felt Srinivasa Rao was like his family member.

Kota Srinivasa Rao, as a passionate actor, had worked in the Tollywood film industry for more than 4 decades and acted in over 750 films. Apart from Telugu films, he also acted in some Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi films. He was known for his versatile roles, he had shown his impressive acting in both villanous, comedy and character roles, he acted best in numerous roles throughout his filmy career.

Kota Srinivasa Rao had began his filmy career in 1978 with the Telugu film Pranam Khareedu, it was also the first released film of Chiranjeevi.

Srinivasa Rao had received 9 Nandi Awards for his outstanding performances in the films like Prithighatana in 1985 (Special Jury Award), Gaayam in 1993 (Best Villain), Teerpu in 1994 (Best villain), Little Soldiers in 1996 ( Best Character Role), Ganesh in 1998 ( Best Villain), Chinna in 2001 ( Best Villain), Prudhvi Narayana in 2002 ( Best Character Role), Aa Naluguru in 2004 (Best Character Role) and Pellaina Kotthalo in 2006 (Best Character Role).

He won SIIMA in 2012 for the film Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum for Best Supporting Actor.

In 2015 he was honoured with Padma Shri.

Due to his best acting skills in various types of roles might be in villanous, comedy or character roles, it had become possible for Kota Srinivasa Rao to act in more than 750 films in more than 4 decades of his filmy career.

He got immense opportunities from several directors and producers throughout his filmy career because of his unique acting styles that impressed the audience very much. With the director Ram Gopal Varma he had worked in the popular films like Siva, Gaayam, Money, Sarkar and Rakta Charitra.

Ram Gopal Varma too paid his tribute to Srinivasa Rao on social media and also shared a rare pic with him which was taken during the shooting of Anaganaga Oka Roju in 1996.

Kota Srinivasa Rao was born on 10th July 1942 at a village Kankipadu of Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh. His father was a doctor.

He too had an aim to become a doctor like his father but he was very much interested in acting and he used to act on the stage during his college days itself. He completed B.sc and before becoming a filmy actor he worked as an employee in State Bank. He had 3 children: 2 daughters and a son with his wife Rukmini. His son Kota Venkata Anjaneya Prasad had passed away in 2010 in a road accident, he too acted in a couple of films.

Kota Srinivasa Rao went on to act in various roles in numerous films since 1978. In 2023 he acted in a Telugu film Suvarna Sundari and a Kannada film Kabzaa. His last appearance is in the Pawan Kalyan's film Hari Hara Veera Mallu, in which he appears in a powerful character though it's a small role.

Many of his close associates have prayed to God to rest his soul in peace.