M. Ranga Rao (26 April 1932 – 3 August 1990) was a prominent Indian composer who predominantly worked in

Kannada cinema Kannada cinema, also known as Sandalwood, or Chandanavana, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Kannada language widely spoken in the state of Karnataka. The 1934 film '' Sati Sulochana'' direct ...

. Rao was known for his mellifluous scores and lilting tunes backed with strong classical nuances. "Ranga Rao" composed tunes for approximately 100 films in

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

cinema.

Personal life

Early life

Ranga Rao was born in a small village in

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

on 15 October 1932. He learnt the art of playing

Veena The ''veena'', also spelled ''vina'' ( sa, वीणा IAST: vīṇā), comprises various chordophone instruments from the Indian subcontinent. Ancient musical instruments evolved into many variations, such as lutes, zithers and arched harps ...

instrument at a very young age. His inspiration was his mother, Rangamma. He graduated with Diploma in Mechanical Engineering stream.

Family

M. Ranga Rao was married to Syamala Devi and they have two sons and two daughters. His wife, Syamala, died five months after her husband's death in 1991.

Career

Rao entered the film industry as a small-time actor in the films ''Swarga Seema'' (1945) and '' Yogi Vemana'' (1947). He worked a

player in the 1946 released film ''

Tyagayya Thyagaraja ( Telugu: త్యాగరాజ) (4 May 1767 – 6 January 1847), also known as Thyāgayya and in full as Kakarla Thyagabrahmam, was a composer and vocalist of Carnatic music, a form of Indian classical music. Tyagaraja and his ...

''. However, he entered the Kannada film industry as a full-fledged composer of the film '' Nakkare Ade Swarga'' in 1967. This also marked the beginning of the legendary playback singer

S. P. Balasubrahmanyam Sripathi Panditaradhyula Balasubrahmanyam (4 June 1946 – 25 September 2020), also referred to as SPB or SP Balu or Balu, was an Indian playback singer, television presenter, actor, music composer, dubbing artist, and film producer. He is wi ...

. Ranga Rao introduced (his relative) Balasubramanyam to Kannada films by offering him a duet song alongside the veteran singer

P. Susheela Pulapaka Susheela (born 13 November 1935), popularly known as P. Susheela, is an Indian playback singer associated with the South Indian cinema primarily from Andhra Pradesh for over six decades. She is one of the greatest and best-known playba ...

. Ranga Rao also worked as an assistant music director to veteran ace musician

P. Adinarayana Rao Penupatruni Adinarayana Rao (21 August 1915 – 19 August 1991) was an Indian music director, film producer, lyricist and play writer. He co-founded "Aswini Pictures" with Akkineni Nageswara Rao and produced some movies in Telugu and Tamil langu ...

for Telugu films 1. Pedda Koduku(1972) directed by K. S. Prakash Rao, and 2.

Krishna (Telugu actor) Ghattamaneni Siva Rama Krishna Murthy (31 May 1943 – 15 November 2022), known mononymously as Krishna, was an Indian actor, director and producer known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema. In a film career spanning five decades, he ...

1974 historical magnanimous hit

Alluri Seetarama Raju (film) ''Alluri Seetarama Raju'' is a 1974 Indian Telugu-language biographical action film directed by V. Ramachandra Rao and written by Tripuraneni Maharadhi. The film stars Krishna, Vijaya Nirmala, and Jaggayya. It is produced by Padmalaya Studios ...

. Along with composing numerous songs in Kannada, he also composed a few in

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode ...

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, na ...

and

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry ( Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam wa ...

languages, most of them being the dubbed works of his Kannada songs.

Death

Ranga Rao died of cancer on 2 August 1990, aged 58. He was cremated in a crematorium in Bengaluru. He and his wife are survived by their four children, children-in-law and grandchildren.

Awards

*1969 –

Karnataka State Film Award for Best Music Director Karnataka State Film Award for Best Music Director is a state film award of the Indian state of Karnataka given during the annual Karnataka State Film Awards. The award honours Kannada language films. Superlative winners Winners The following ...

– ''

Hannele Chiguridaga ''Hannele Chiguridaga'' () is a 1968 Indian Kannada-language film directed by M. R. Vittal and produced by Srikanth Enterprises. The film stars Rajkumar, R. Nagendra Rao and Kalpana. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Triven ...

'' *1982 –

– ''

Hosa Belaku ''Hosa Belaku'' () is a 1982 Kannada-language romantic drama film directed by Dorai–Bhagavan duo. It is based on the novel of the same name by Vani. The film starred Rajkumar, Saritha, Mamatha Rao and K. S. Ashwath. The movie saw a theatri ...

'' *1984 –

– ''

Bandhana ''Bandhana'' is a 1984 Indian Kannada-language romantic drama film directed by Rajendra Singh Babu from a screenplay by H. V. Subba Rao and Rajendra Singh Babu, based on a novel of the same name by Usha Navaratnanram. The film revolves around ...

Discography

;Kannada ;Telugu * '' Sardar Dharmanna'' (1987) ;Tamil *''

Kudumbam Oru Koyil ''Kudumbam Oru Kovil'' () is a 1987 Indian Tamil-language film, directed by A. C. Tirulokchandar and produced by Anandavalli Balaji. The film stars Sivaji Ganesan, Lakshmi, Murali and Ranjini. The movie is a remake of 1985 Hindi film '' Ghar ...

'' (1986)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rao, M. Ranga 1932 births 1990 deaths Kannada film score composers Telugu film score composers Saraswati veena players 20th-century Indian composers Film musicians from Andhra Pradesh Indian male film score composers 20th-century male musicians

Personal life

Early life

Family

Career

Death

Awards

Discography

See also

References