Daggubati Ramanidu is the legendary multilingual Indian movie producer and film-maker who had actually introduced the film industry to Hyderabad. He gave Indian cinema some of its finest artists, technicians and made some of India`s most memorable films. Daggubati Ramanidu is listed as the most prolific producer with over 135 films. In 2010; he was conferred with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, India`s highest award in cinema. The Guinness Book of Records lists him as the most prolific producer with 130 films. Daggubati Ramanidu has produced the Bengali film, Asukh in 1999, which won the FIPRESCI Prize at Bombay International Film Festival.
Early life of Daggubati Ramanaidu
He was born on 6 June 1936 to Daggubati Venkateswarlu and Lakshmi Devamma in Karamchedu in the present-day Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh. In 1963, he had plunged into production and launched his first Telugu film Anuragam, followed by a very successful Ramudu Bheemudu starring N. T. Rama Rao in 1964. Apart from producing Telugu movies, he has also produced movies in languages such as Hindi language, Tamil language, Malayalam language, Kannada language, Bengali language etc.
Career of Daggubati Ramanaidu
Dr Ramanaidu is distinguished to have received the unique honorary doctorate from Sri Venkateshwara University, Tirupathi. He is also the recipient of several awards that include the Indira Gandhi Priyadarshini Award for outstanding contribution to Film Industry, the Best Producer Award at the 46th National Film Festival for the Bengali Film `Asuk`. He entered the Guinness Book of World Records in 1999 and Limca Book of Records in 1998 for producing the utmost number of films in Indian Cinema. He also received international recognition when his film "Soggadu" was selected for Tashkent Film Festival 1976.Recently President Pratibha Patil conferred the Dada Saheb Phalke award-2009 on veteran film producer D Ramanaidu for rendering outstanding contribution to the world of Indian cinema during the 57th National Film Awards function.
Dr D Ramanaidu has produced, processed, edited, printed and distributed all his films on his own, which is one of the key reasons for having invested, developed and operationalized state of the art film infrastructure at Ramanaidu Studios. From humble beginnings, he has gone on to become one of the greatest success stories of his generation, an inspiration for the youth today. Dr D Ramanaidu has served as a Member of Parliament in the 13th Lok Sabha, from the Bapatla Constituency in Andhra Pradesh and was responsible for evolving policies, strategies and missions for many development applications. He also served as Member Committee for External Affairs and Member Consultative Committee, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
Personal Life of Daggubati Ramanaidu
Apart from his contribution to film and entertainment, his philanthropic side is not really known to most people. The Ramanaidu Charitable Trust has taken unprecedented steps to provide and support various schools, colleges, old age homes and hospitals. The trust has donated altruistically for the sacrifice of our brave men and women in uniform and their families. Dr D Ramanaidu`s innovative pursuits continue as he takes up the mission to ignite young creative minds by developing an indigenous Institute for film production, technology and film studies. He is married to Rajeswari and has 3 children, Suresh Babu, Venkatesh Babu and Lakshmi.
Though his sons and grandson now handle company operations, Dr Ramanaidu continues to produce films, keenly follow changing trends in the industry and constantly motivates his dedicated team to adapt and update themselves to the ever-evolving world of entertainment.