Chennai, Nov 10 (IANS): Director Bapu aka Sattiraju Lakshmi Narayana, who introduced actor A.V. Subrahmanyam into Telugu films, says the late actor's biggest strength was making people laugh effortlessly.

Subrahmanyam, who died Friday due to liver-related problems, made his cinematic debut with Subrahmanyam's Telugu family drama "Mr. Pellam".

"Writer Indraganti Srikanth Sarma introduced Subrahmanyam to me. He was doing a comedy show on Doordarshan at that time and was also working as a journalist. I still remember him for his ability to make people laugh effortlessly and that was his strength," Bapu told IANS.

In "Mr. Pellam", Subrahmanyam played a manager with a lisp.

"He was extremely talented and had a great knack for mimicry and it didn't take me much time to like him. His early death is industyr's loss," said the director.

"Mr. Pellam" was Subrahmanyam's first Telugu release, but he had donned the greasepaint for the first time for Telugu historical film "Srinadha Kavi Sarvabhowma", which was also directed by Bapu.

"He was first cast for my film 'Srinadha Kavi Sarvabhowma' alongside NTR (Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao), but it released few years later. Meanwhile, I roped him in for my next film 'Mr. Pellam'."

"He even won a Nandi Award for his role in that film. I'm sure thousands of movie would remember his catchphrase from the film," said Bapu.

In a career of over two decades, Subrahmanyam starred in nearly 400 films. Some of his best films include "Yamaleela", "Sisindri", "Intlo Illalu Vantaintlo Priyuralu" and "Venky".

He had also directed four movies namely "Super Heroes", "Ori Ni Prema Bangaaram Kaanu", "Room Mates" and "Kothimooka".