Cherukuri Ramoji Rao (16 November 1936 – 8 June 2024) was an Indian businessman, media proprietor and film producer. He was head of the Ramoji Group which owns the world's largest film production facility Ramoji Film City, '' Eenadu'' newspaper, ETV Network of TV channels, film production company Ushakiran Movies. His other business ventures included Margadarsi Chit Fund, Dolphin Group of Hotels, Kalanjali Shopping Mall, Priya Pickles, ETV Win OTT platform and Mayuri Film Distributors. Rao garnered four

Filmfare Awards South The Filmfare Awards South are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Telugu cinema, Tamil cinema, Malayalam cinema and Kannada cinema. They are presented by ''Filmfare'' magazine of The Times Group. When it was intr ...

, five

Nandi Awards The Nandi Awards are annual awards presented by the Government of Andhra Pradesh to recognise excellence in Telugu cinema, theatre, and television, as well as lifetime achievements in Indian cinema. The awards are named after the monolithic ...

and the

National Film Award The National Film Awards are awards for artistic and technical merit given for "Excellence within the Cinema of India, Indian film industry". Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India ...

for his works in

Telugu cinema Telugu cinema, also known as Tollywood, is the segment of Cinema of India, Indian cinema dedicated to the production of Film, motion pictures in the Telugu language, widely spoken in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Based in Film N ...

. In 2016, he was honoured with the Padma Vibhushan, India's second-highest civilian honour, for his contributions in journalism, literature and education.

Personal life

Cherukuri Ramoji Rao was born on 16 November 1936 in Pedaparupudi of

Krishna District Krishna district is a district in the Coastal Andhra region in Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, with Machilipatnam as its administrative headquarters. It is surrounded on the East by Bay of Bengal, West by Guntur district, Guntur, Bapatla distric ...

Madras Presidency The Madras Presidency or Madras Province, officially called the Presidency of Fort St. George until 1937, was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India and later the Dominion of India. At its greatest extent, the presidency i ...

, India into an Telugu-speaking Kamma family. Companies owned by the Ramoji Group include Margadarsi Chit Fund, '' Eenadu'' newspaper, ETV Network, Ramadevi Public School, Priya Foods, Kalanjali, Ushakiran Movies, and Ramoji Film City near Hyderabad. He was also the chairman of Dolphin Group of Hotels in Andhra Pradesh. Rao's younger son, Cherukuri Suman, died of leukaemia on 7 September 2012. Rao died from heart disease in Hyderabad, on 8 June 2024, at the age of 87. He was cremated with state honours at Ramoji Film City, on 9 June 2024, where his memorial is expected to come up.

Filmography

Films

Television

Awards and honours

;Civilian honours * Padma Vibhushan (2016) – Government of India ;

National Film Awards The National Film Awards are awards for artistic and technical merit given for "Excellence within the Cinema of India, Indian film industry". Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India ...

* National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu (producer) – '' Nuvve Kavali'' (2000) ;

Filmfare Awards The Filmfare Awards are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Indian cinema.Al The Filmfare ceremony is one of the most famous film events in India. The awards were introduced by Filmfare magazine of The Times G ...

Filmfare Best Film Award (Telugu) The Filmfare Award for Best Film is given by the '' Filmfare'' magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films. The award was first given in 1954. Here is a list of the award winners and the nominees of the respective years. E ...

– '' Pratighatana'' (1985) * Filmfare Special Award - South for outstanding contributions towards Indian cinema (1998) *

– '' Nuvve Kavali'' (2000) * Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award - South (2004) ;

(in Telugu) * Best Feature Film - Silver – Kanchana Ganga (1984) * Best Feature Film - Gold – Mayuri (1985) * Best Feature Film - Silver – Mouna Poratam (1989) * Best Feature Film - Bronze – Aswini (1991) * Best Children's Film - Gold – Teja (1992)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rao, Ramoji 1936 births 2024 deaths Telugu film producers Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan in literature & education Film producers from Andhra Pradesh Filmfare Awards South winners Indian mass media owners People from Krishna district 20th-century Indian businesspeople 21st-century Indian businesspeople Indian film distributors Businesspeople from Andhra Pradesh Ramoji Group