Veteran Telugu film director Tatineni Rama Rao passed away at a private hospital in Chennai in the early hours of Wednesday. He was 84. He is survived by wife Jayashree, children Chamundeswari, Naga Suseela, and Ajay. Rao started his work in the film industry in the late 1950s as the assistant director of his cousin T. Prakash Rao and Kotayya Pratyagatma, before making his directorial debut with 1966 Telugu film Navarathri.
Rao was the man who established the ‘Madras movie’ phenomenon where Hindi films would be funded primarily by capital from the South. Many of his Hindi films were in fact remakes of Telugu hits with the 2000 Govinda starrer Beti No 1, marking his last release. His family members released a statement informing fans about his demise. The statement read, "With great sadness, we inform that our beloved Tatineni Rama Rao has left for his heavenly abode at the early hours of April 20, 2022. May he be remembered by wife Tatineni Jayashree and children Chamundeswari, Naga Suseela, Ajay and family (sic)."