CHENNAI: Veteran filmmaker Tatineni Rama Rao passed away at the age of 84 on Wednesday 20 April due to age-related ailments.
Rao took his last breath at around 12:00 am at night on Wednesday at a private hospital in Chennai. The last rites will be observed on Wednesday at 04:00 pm at the Kannamapet Crematorium.
Director and producer Rao is survived by his wife Jayashree, a daughter named Chamundeswari and two sons namely Ajay and Naya Suseela.
Throughout his career, the Telugu film director has made a massive contribution to Indian filmmaking and led to the great success of several movies.
During the period from 1966 to 2000, Rao has directed 70 films including Hindi and Telugu feature films. He made his directorial debut in 1966 with the film titled 'Navarathri' with Akkineni Nageswar Rao and Savitri in lead roles.
Soon after his directorial journey started, Rao worked with the very popular Telugu stars including Krishna, Rajnikanth, NTR, Jayasudha, Shoban Babu and others
Some of the Telugu films directed by T Rama Rao include blockbuster hits Panchani Kapuram in 1985, Brahmachari in 1966, Dorababu in 1974, Anurag Devatha in 1982 and Yamagola in 1977 among others.
He also directed the film 'Yamagola' in the Hindi version starring Jeetendra and Jayaprada and released it in the year 1979 with the title 'Lok Parlok.'
In 1979, the filmmaker entered the Hindi film industry and worked with Bollywood superstars like Amitabh Bachchan, Mithun Chakraborty, Dharmendra, Govinda, Sanjay Dutt and Anil Kapoor.
The super hits films in Bollywood directed by Rao include 'Andha Kanoon' in 1983 starring popular stars Rajnikanth, Hema Malini, Amrish Puri and Danny Danzongpa and 'Judaai' in 1980 starring Jeetendra and Rekha as leads.
Other hits Hindi films by Rao are Khatron ki Khiladi in 1988, Mujhe Insaaf Chahiye in 1983, Insaf Ki Pukar in 1987 and Nache Mayuri in 1986.
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