Renowned Indian film producer D. Ramanaidu, 79, who was undergoing treatment for prostate cancer, passed away at a hospital here Wednesday. His cremation will be held Thursday afternoon, his publicist said.
The Dadasaheb Phalke Award winner and Padma Bhushan awardee held the record of producing films in the maximum number of Indian languages.
Following his death, his body was shifted to Ramanaidu Studios, his residence, for people to pay their last respects.
"The body will be moved to the Andhra Pradesh Film Chamber of Commerce tomorrow (Thursday) morning for the public to pay homage, and then the body will be brought back to the studio where the funeral will take place," the publicist told IANS.
Born June 6, 1936, Ramanaidu's journey as a co-producer started with the 1963 Telugu film "Anuragam". Next year, he made his solo debut as a producer with the N.T. Rama Rao-starrer Telugu drama "Ramudu Bheemudu".
Some of his other popular Telugu films include "Prem Nagar", "Jeevana Tarangalu", "Soggadu", "Kaliyuga Pandavulu", "Coolie No 1" and "Ganesh" among others.
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In 1989, he launched Ramanaidu Studios, followed by Ramanaidu Colour Lab and Cine Village.
In a career lasting over five decades, he produced over 130 films in over 20 Indian languages.
In Hindi, he produced films such as "Prem Nagar", "Dildaar", "Maqsad", "Insaaf", "Tohfa", "Anari" and "Hum Aapke Dil Mein Rehte Hain".
He had also produced films in Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Oriya, Punjabi and English.
Ramanaidu used to produce films under his home banner Suresh Productions, which has now been taken over by his eldest son D. Suresh Babu.
Besides a few Nandi and Filmfare awards, Ramanaidu was conferred the Dadasaheb Phalke and Padma Bhushan awards in 2009 and 2012 respectively.
Between 1999 and 2004, he was associated with the Telugu Desam Party.
In many of his own productions, he was known for playing cameo roles and most frequently appeared in doctor and judge roles.
Ramanaidu is survived by his sons Suresh Babu, Venkatesh Daggubati and grandsons Rana and Naga Chaitanya.