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. Kannada cinema is based in Gandhi Nagar ...

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

Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...

cinema.

Personal life

Early life

Ranga Rao was born in a small village in

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

on 15 October 1932. He learnt the art of playing Veena 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 Veena player in the 1946 released film '' Tyagayya''. 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. He had a long association with noted singer Bangalore Latha. Ranga Rao introduced Balasubramanyam to Kannada films by offering him a duet song alongside the veteran singer P. Susheela.Ranga Rao also worked as an assistant music director to veteran ace musician P. Adinarayana Rao. Along with composing numerous songs in Kannada, he also composed a few in Telugu, Tamil and

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

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 – '' Hannele Chiguridaga'' *1982 – Karnataka State Film Award for Best Music Director – '' Hosa Belaku'' *1984 – Karnataka State Film Award for Best Music Director – '' Bandhana''

Discography

;Kannada ;Telugu * '' Sardar Dharmanna'' (1987) ;Tamil *'' Kudumbam Oru Koyil'' (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 Indian male musicians