JOIN USTollywood lost one of its most enduring icons with the passing away of prolific producer and studio owner Daggubati Ramanaidu. Son of a successful businessman, Ramanaidu was born in Karamchedu in Andhra Pradesh, and after trying his hand at several business ventures, eventually found his calling in cinema.
It was the late thespian Akkineni Nageswara Rao who kindled Ramanaidu’s interest in cinema and he first came on board as a co-producer with the film Anuragam. The film’s success inspired him to pursue his first independent venture Ramudu Bheemudu, which had matinee idol N T Rama Rao in the lead. Since then, his film production unit Suresh Productions, named after his elder son Suresh, has been one of the most prolific banners.
With well over 130 films in several Indian languages, Ramanaidu’s company also found a mention in the Guinness Book of World Records for the maximum number of films produced by an individual. Ramanaidu, apart from reaping a rich harvest from his productions, also won the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke Award, and was also awarded the Padma Bhushan.
A self-made man
Ramanaidu’s sincerity and devotion to cinema was instrumental in his standing out among his contemporaries and in taking his production house to great heights. Without any godfathers or mentors in his early days, Ramanaidu relied mostly on his gut feeling and his trust in the actors and the directors who gave shape to his ideas.
Till the very end, he remained a hands-on producer, always visiting the sets and even lending a helping hand in times of need. This enabled him to study the nuances of cinema and also endowed him with a Midas touch which soon became his hallmark even when he ventured into Bollywood.
Some of his biggest hits in Telugu were blockbusters including Prem Nagar, Jeevana Tharangalu, Soggadu, Kaliyuga Pandavalu (he introduced his son Venkatesh in this film), Coolie No. 1 etc.
He introduced several fresh talents to cinema. Ramanaidu also had the distinction of working with most of the stars in the industry, right from NTR to Shobhan Babu and Murali Mohan, down to his own son Venkatesh, now one of the leading heroes in Telugu cinema. Most of his films revolved around social themes and inevitably contained commercial ingredients vital for a film’s success.
Spreading his wings
Having tasted success in Tollywood, Ramanaidu was eager to make films in other languages and often preferred to produce remakes of his successful Telugu films and the ploy worked extremely well for him. His super duper hit in Telugu, Prem Nagar, became Vasantha Maligai in Tamil with Sivaji Ganesan in the lead, and later made waves as Prem Nagar in Hindi with the then superstar Rajesh Khanna and Hema Malini playing the star-crossed lovers.
The producer discovered a petite young actress Karisma Kapoor, daughter of yesteryear stars Randhir Kapoor and Babita, and cast her as his heroine in the film Prem Qaidi. He then remade the Tamil hit Chinnathambi as Anari in Hindi with his son Venkatesh making his debut in Bollywood opposite Karisma, and the film is still remembered for its lilting music score.
Other Hindi films like Tohfa with Jeetendra and Sridevi and Hum Aapke Dil Mein Rehte Hain, a remake of the Telugu hit Pavithra Bandham, also struck a chord with Hindi audiences. Ramanaidu also produced a couple of Kannada films — Thavarumane Udugore with Srikanth and Malashree, and Madhuve Agona Baa with Shivraj Kumar.
The ace producer’s state-of-the-art studio in Hyderabad and his production house will remain as lasting tributes to a colossus who lived and breathed cinema.