He is fondly called as Chanti 'garu'. He is an industry elder who has worked with the likes of K Raghavendra Rao in the past and SS Rajamouli in the new millennium ('Sye', 'Yamadonga', 'Magadheera' have fetched him the Best Editor Nandi. So, three of the five Nandis he has won are Rajamouli movies). He is Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao, whom NTR calls Chanti 'mama'.
Speaking at the success meet of 'Janatha Garage' the other day, NTR profusely thanked Kotagiri for the best editing output with respect to his new movie. (Note: In the past, the celebrated technician had edited 'Student No. 1', 'Simhadri', 'Narasimhudu', 'Dammu', 'Rabhasa').
As for Koratala Siva, he expressed surprise at the editor's ability to keep the flow intact. "After watching a scene, I would come out of the edit room thinking nothing was edited out. That is till my assistants tell me that a line was edited out. Such is his technique. Even the director won't discover it because he helps maintains the flow ", Siva said at the success meet.