Cherukuri Ramoji Rao (born 16 November 1936) is an Indian businessman,

media entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values th ...

, and film producer. He is head of the

Ramoji Group Ramoji Group is an Indian conglomerate headed by Ramoji Rao and headquartered in Hyderabad, India. Its businesses cover television and newspaper media, film production, financial services, retail, education and hospitality. In 1996, one of i ...

which owns the world's largest film production facility

Ramoji Film City Ramoji Film City is an integrated film studio facility located in Hyderabad, India. Spread over 1,666 acres (674 ha), it is the largest film studio complex in the world and as such has been certified by the Guinness World Records. It was estab ...

, ''

Eenadu ''Eenadu'' () is the largest circulated Telugu-language daily newspaper of India sold mostly in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.ETV Network ETV Network is a network of Telugu language news and entertainment satellite television channels in India. It is based in Hyderabad. It also had some non Telugu language satellite television channels. All non-Telugu language satellite televisi ...

of TV channels, film production company

Usha Kiran Movies Usha Kiron Movies is an Indian film production company founded by Ramoji Rao in 1983. It is a part of Ramoji Group Ramoji Group is an Indian conglomerate headed by Ramoji Rao and headquartered in Hyderabad, India. Its businesses cover t ...

. His other business ventures include Margadarsi Chit Fund, Dolphin Group of hotels, Kalanjali shopping mall, Priya pickles, and Mayuri Film Distributors. He has garnered four

Filmfare Awards South Filmfare Awards South is the South Indian segment of the annual Filmfare Awards, presented by the Filmfare magazine of The Times Group to honour both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in the Indian film industry encompassing ...

, five

Nandi Awards The Nandi Awards are the awards that recognise the excellence in Telugu cinema, Telugu theatre and Telugu television, and Lifetime achievements in Indian cinema. Presented annually by the Government of Andhra Pradesh, the award is named after ...

and the

National Film Award The National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government's Directora ...

for his works in

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

. In 2016, he was honored with the

Padma Vibhushan The Padma Vibhushan ("Lotus Decoration") is the second-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "exceptional and distinguished service" ...

, India's second-highest civilian honor, for his contributions in journalism, literature and education.

Personal life

Cherukuri Ramoji Rao was born on 16 November 1936 in

Pedaparupudi Pedaparupudi is a village in Krishna district of the Indian state of 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 te ...

Krishna District Krishna district is district in the coastal Andhra Region in Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, with Machilipatnam as its administrative headquarters. It is the coastal district of Andhra Pradesh. Machilipatnam is the most populated city in the di ...

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 ...

, India into an agricultural family. Companies owned by the Ramoji Group include Margadarsi Chit Fund, ''

, Ramadevi Public School, Priya Foods, Kalanjali, Ushakiran Movies and the

near Hyderabad. He is also the chairman of Dolphin Group of Hotels in Andhra Pradesh. Rao's younger son, Cherukuri Suman, died of leukemia on 7 September 2012.

Filmography

Awards and honours

;Civilian honours *

(2016) – Government of India ;

National Film Awards The National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government's Directorat ...

National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu The National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India. It is one of several ...

(producer) – ''

Nuvve Kavali ''Nuvve Kavali'' () is a 2000 Indian Telugu-language romance film directed by K. Vijaya Bhaskar and produced by Ramoji Rao under Ushakiran Movies. A remake of the 1999 Malayalam film '' Niram'', the film stars Tarun, Richa Pallod, Sai Kiran, ...

'' (2000) ;

Filmfare Awards The Filmfare Awards are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Hindi-language film industry of India.Al The Filmfare ceremony is one of the most famous film events in India. The awards were first introduced by th ...

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. Eac ...

– ''

Pratighatana ''Pratighatana'' () is a 1985 Indian Telugu-language action drama film written and directed by T. Krishna. The film is produced by Ramoji Rao under Ushakiran Movies. The plot follows a woman's fight against corruption and criminalization of poli ...

'' (1985) *

Filmfare Special Award - South ''Filmfare'' is an Indian English-language fortnightly magazine published by Worldwide Media. Acknowledged as one of Indian most popular entertainment magazines, it publishes pieces involving news, interviews, photos, videos, reviews, events, a ...

for outstanding contributions towards Indian cinema (1998) *

– ''

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

(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 S ...

) * Best Feature Film - Silver - Kanchana Ganga (1984) * Best Feature Film - Gold -

Mayuri Mayuri may refer to: * ''Mayuri'' (film), a 1984 Telugu film produced by Ramoji Rao * ''Maya'' (2015 Tamil film), released as ''Mayuri'' in Telugu * Mayoori (actress) (1983–2005), a South Indian actress in Malayalam film industry * Mayuri Up ...

(1985) * Best Feature Film - Silver -

Mouna Poratam ''Mouna Poratam'' (''The Silent War'' or ''The Silent Struggle'') is a 1989 Indian drama film directed by Mohan Gandhi, starring Yamuna and Vinod Kumar, with music composed by S. Janaki. The movie is based on the real-life story of Sabita Badhei ...

(1989) * Best Feature Film - Bronze - Aswini (1991) * Best Childrens Film - Gold -

Teja Teja may refer to: Places *Isla Teja, an island in Chile *La Teja, a neighbourhood of Montevideo, Uruguay * Teja, Perak, Malaysia * Teja Kalan, a village in Batala in Gurdaspur district of Punjab State, India * Teja Khurd, a village in Batala in G ...

(1992)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rao, Ramoji 1936 births Living people 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