Telugu film producer Doraswami Raju dies at 74

Noted Telugu film producer V Doraswamy Raju died at a super-specialty hospital here on Monday following a cardiac arrest. Raju, 74, was admitted on January 16 with health issues and the end came at 8.20 AM, hospital sources said. Raju, also a film distributor, produced several successful films, including ‘Annamayya’, ‘President gari pellam’, ‘Kirayi Dada’ (all with Nagarjuna), ‘Sitaramayya gari Manavaralu’ with legendary Akkineni Nageswara Rao and ‘Simhadri’ with junior NTR.

‘Annamayya’, a film on the life of renowned saint composer Tallapaka Annamacharya, is considered a memorable film in Telugu cinema. ‘Sitaramayya gari Manavaralu’, released in 1991, had won numerous awards.

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, veteran director K Raghavendra Rao, actor junior NTR and others condoled the death of Raju. Raju contributed a lot to the growth of the film industry as a producer and film distributor, the CM said.

“We lost one of Telugu Cinemas passionate distributors & producers, VMC Doraswami Raju garu.My condolences to his family,” Raghavendra Rao, who directed ‘Annamayya’, tweeted.

Expressing anguish over the demise, junior NTR, a grandson of the legendary N T Rama Rao, said the departed producer rendered unforgettable services to the Telugu film industry.