CHENNAI: Noted filmmaker Rama Narayanan, a prolific director-producer who has also been an MLA once, died at a private hospital in Singapore on Sunday. His body will be brought to Chennai on Tuesday.
Starting his career as a dialogue writer, Rama Narayanan soon turned to script, screenplay, production and direction, finishing with an impressive 125 films as a director in nearly four decades. These include films in languages like Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Marathi, Bengali, Oriya and even Malay.
Rama Narayanan was known for working on tight budgets, often including animals portraying prominent role in the films. More often than not, the stories had a devotional theme.
An influential figure in the film industry circle, known to be close to the DMK and its president M Karunanidhi - he has also directed films for which scripts were penned by the DMK chief - Rama Narayanan was the powerful president of the Tamil Nadu Producers’ Council for three consecutive terms, which ended after the regime change in the State in 2011.
He contested and won from Karaikudi Assembly constituency in 1989, and was also made the chairman of Iyal Isai Nataka Mandram twice - in 1996 and 2006, both times when the DMK was in power.