Though Subbu which released in the same year could not impress the audience, his 2002 action film Aadi was a massive success. For the film, Rama Rao received Nandi Special Jury Award presented by the Government of Andhra Pradesh. The two next films Allari Ramudu and Naaga were back-to-back failures. His second collaboration with the director S. S. Rajamouli was the 2003 action film Simhadri, which ended up as one of the biggest blockbusters of that year. In the film, Rama Rao is seen as a kind-hearted man, Simhadri who has a violent past. In 2004, Rama Rao played a dual role for the first time film Andhrawala directed by Puri Jagannadh. The film could not reach the high expectations and bombed at the box office. Samba which released in the same year had a decent response but his subsequent films Naa Alludu, Narasimhudu and Ashok were a string of failures.
