Apart from Telugu films, Ramanaidu has produced movies in Hindi, Bengali, Oriya, Assamese, Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada, Gujarati, Marathi and Bhojpuri.
The award, announced by the Centre on Thursday, would be presented to him at the National Awards presentation ceremony likely in October.
Ramanaidu’s films have won various laurels. While “Surigadu” was selected for the Indian Panorama in 1993. Bengali film “Asukh” won the National Award for the Best Film in 1999.
The galaxy of artistes who have worked in his films include N T Rama Rao, A Nageswara Rao, Sivaji Ganesan, Pandari Bai, Jamuna, Padmini, Sobhan Babu, Kamal Haasan, Jayaprada, Chiranjeevi, Rajnikanth, Rajesh Khanna, Hema Malini, Rekha, Jeetendra and Sreedevi.
Ramanaidu also has an envious track record of having introduced numerous film directors as well as artistes and technicians. A few well-known artistes introduced by him include Venkatesh, Harish, Vanisri, Aryan Rajesh, Tabu, Khushboo, Allari Naresh and Malasree.
Some of the well-known films produced by Ramanaidu in various languages include “Premanagar”, “Dildar”, “Bandish” (all Hindi), “Premanagar”, “Srikrishna Tulabharam”, “Preminchu”, “Ramudu Bheemudu”, “Bobbili Raja” (all Telugu), “Asukh”, “Sudhu Ekbar Bolo” (Bengali), “Maduve Agona Baa”, “Thavarumane Udugore” (Kannada), “Vasantha Maligai”, “Thiru Mangalam”, “Thannikattu Raja” (Tamil) and “Ashwaroodhan” (Malayalam).
Ramanaidu also produced a film titled “Hamari Beti” in Hindi focusing on how handicapped people can lead a normal life and achieve their goals. The film was screened at international film festivals in Chicago and Venice. The award consists of a Swarn Kamal, a cash prize of Rs.10 lakh and a shawl.
Born in Karamchedu in Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh in 1936, Ramanaidu entered the film world in 1963 with his first film “Anuragam”, followed by the super hit film “Ramudu-Bheemudu” starring NTR in 1964. In the last 47 years, he has been a prolific producer of over 130 films and finds mention in the Guinness Book of World Records.
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