T. Rama Rao, Pioneer of Crossover Cinema, passes away

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.

Beginning his directorial journey in 1969 with ‘Navarathri’, Rama Rao worked with a number of top Telugu 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.

One of the pioneering southern directors to also work in Bollywood, Rama Rao entered the Hindi film industry in 1979 and got to team up with leading actors such as Amitabh Bachan, Jeetendra, Dharmendra, Sanjay Dutt, Anil Kapoor, Govinda and Mithun Chakraborty.

He was credited with introducing Rajinikanth in Hindi cinema with ‘Andhaa Kanoon’. He also made several superhit movies in Hindi such as ‘Judai’, ‘Jeevan Dhara’, ‘Ek Hi Bhool’, ‘Andhaa Kanoon’, ‘Inqulaab’, ‘Insaf Ki Pukar’, ‘Watan Ke Rakhwale’, ‘Dosti Dushmani’, ‘Nache Mayuri’, ‘John Jani Janardhan’, ‘Raavan Raj’, ‘Muqabla’, ‘Hathkadi’ and ‘Jung’.

RIP sir!