The man synonymous with actor Jeetendra’s blockbusters in the 1980s, veteran director-producer T. Rama Rao passed away in Chennai during the early hours of Wednesday. He was 83. Rama Rao had helmed 70 films in Telugu and Hindi, besides bankrolling blockbusters in Tamil.
A resident of Chennai’s T. Nagar neighbourhood, Rama Rao died at around 12.30 a.m. because of an age-related illness. His last rites will be held at the Kannammapet crematorium at 4 p.m. on Wednesday.
Bollywood actor Anupam Kher took to Twitter to mourn his demise. Remembering him, he wrote, “Deeply saddened to know about the demise of veteran filmmaker & a dear friend Shri #TRamaRao ji. I had the privilege of working with him in #AakhriRaasta and #Sansaar!! He was compassionate, commanding & had a great sense of humour. My condolences to his family! Om Shanti! 🙏♿️”
Deeply saddened to know about the demise of veteran filmmaker & a dear friend Shri #TRamaRao ji. I had the privilege of working with him in #AakhriRaasta and #Sansaar!! He was compassionate, commanding & had a great sense of humour. My condolences to his family! Om Shanti! 🙏♿️ pic.twitter.com/k66KwN8ymT
— Anupam Kher (@AnupamPKher) April 20, 2022
Rama Rao began his directorial journey in 1969 with Navarathri. Ever since he has worked with various Telegu stars including, NTR, ANR, Shoban Babu, Krishna, Balakrishna, Sridevi, Jayapradha and Jayasudha.
Rama Rao directed Telugu films such as ‘Navarathri’, ‘Jeevana Tarangalu’, ‘Brahmachari’, ‘Aalumagalu’, ‘Yamagola’, ‘Presidenti Gari Abbayi’, ‘Illalu’, ‘Pandani Jeevitham’ and ‘Pachani Kaapuram, etc., in Telugu. Not just that, he also introduced megastar Rajinikanth in Hindi cinema with Andhaa Kanoon.
His venture into Bollywood happened in 1979. He collaborated with several top names like Amitabh Bachchan, Jeetendra, Dharmendra, Sanjay Dutt, Anil Kapoor, Govinda and Mithun Chakraborty. Some of his popular Hindi films include ‘Judai’, ‘Jeevan Dhara’, ‘Ek Hi Bhool’, ‘Inqulaab’, ‘Insaf Ki Pukar’, ‘Watan Ke Rakhwale’, ‘Dosti Dushmani’, ‘Nache Mayuri’, ‘John Jani Janardhan’, ‘Raavan Raj’, ‘Muqabla’, ‘Hathkadi’ and ‘Jung’.
Rama Rao started the ‘Madras Movie’ trend in which Hindi films produced by southern production houses emerged as successful commercial propositions in traditional Hindi film markets.
Rama Rao received many awards for his outstanding contributions to the Indian film industry.
The late filmmaker was also the Chairman of Madras Hydraulic Hose, a leading manufacturer of stainless steel flexible corrugated Hoses for both the domestic market and exports. He’s survived by his wife Tatineni Jayashree and children Chamundeswari, Naga Suseela and Ajay.
(With IANS inputs)
