S. Maruti Rao was an Indian cinematographer who worked mainly in Tamil films.Rao's next film was Kalamegam, directed by Ellis R. Dungan. He worked as assistant under Marcus Bartley. He later moved to Vel Pictures in Guindy and worked on the film Bhakthi Mala. The cinematographer was so impressed with Rao's work that he took him on as first assistant and gave him the responsibility of handling the Mitchell camera.When Meiyappan returned from Karaikudi, Rao worked as second photographer and as manager of the still department. During the production of Or Iravu, Rao worked for the first time as the main cinematographer. Directed by P. Neelakandan, the film’s cinematography won wide acclaim. He went on to work in as many as 60 films: 34 Tamil films, 13 Hindi films, eight in Kannada and five in Telugu. He was the make-up test photographer for actors like Sivaji Ganesan, S. V. Subbiah, Vyjayanthimala and Hema Malini before they could enter cinema.