Veteran filmmaker Dasari Narayana Rao passes away

Veteran Telugu filmmaker and former Union minister Dasari Narayana Rao passed away on 30 May 2017 following heart failure. He was 75.

Rao was known for directing movies with legendary actors like NT Rama Rao and Akkineni Nageswara Rao. He was also an active politician in the Congress party and served as a Union Minister during the UPA regime.

About Dasari Narayana Rao
• Rao began his career as a theatre artiste and went on to work in films. Rao directed his first film in the early 1970s.
• He launched the popular Telugu daily Udhayam in 1984 to counter the influential Eenadu of Ramoji Rao.
• He worked in many films as a dialogue writer, lyricist and actor.
• Some of his major films are Sardar Paparayudu, Bobbili Puli, Shivaranjani, Katakatala Rudrayya, Bali Peetam, Premabhishekam, Gorintaku, Rangoon Rowdy.
• His film ‘Meghasandesam’ (1983) was one of his high points as it was screened in the Cannes and Moscow film festivals.
• Dasari also etched his name in the Limca Book of Records for directing the highest number of films that is 151.
• He won many prestigious awards including the National Award, the Filmfare and received honours from the Andhra Pradesh government.
• In the UPA-2 government led by Manmohan Singh, he became the Union Minister for Coal. But, his tenure ended on a highly controversial note as he faced corruption charges and ended up being named and probed in the multi-crore coal scam.