HYDERABAD:Legendary filmmaker and Dadasaheb Phalke Award recipient Daggubati Ramanaidu breathed his last after a prolonged battle with prostate cancer here on Wednesday.
The movie moghul, who produced about 155 films in several languages, is survived by two sons, actor Venkatesh and producer Suresh Babu, and daughter Lakshmi. He was 78.
Born at Karamchedu in Andhra Pradesh on June 6, 1936, Ramanaidu began his career as a businessman, running a rice mill and buses, before entering the world of cinema. After working for sometime in a production agency, he floated his own banner, Suresh Productions, in collaboration with his childhood friends G Rajendra Prasad and Subba Rao.
He made his first film Anuragam in 1963. Success came his way the next year through Ramudu Bheemudu, starring legendary actor N T Rama Rao.
Ramanaidu holds the Guinness Book record of producing the maximum number of films in Indian cinema - in a career spanning over five decades, he produced 155 films in 15 different languages, including Telugu, Hindi, Tamil, Bengali, Odia, Assamese, Malayalam, Kannada, Gujarati, Marathi and Bhojpuri.
In his twilight years, the ever active producer directed a few Telugu movies.
In 2012, he was conferred the Padma Bhushan in recognition of his contribution to Indian cinema. Earlier, in 2009, he received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for Lifetime Achievement.
Ramanaidu made a brief foray into politics when he won from Bapatla Lok Sabha constituency in 1999 on a TDP ticket.