Chennai: Renowned Indian filmmaker Singeetham Srinivasa Rao died at the age of 95 in a private hospital in Chennai on Saturday, October 3. He juggled roles as a film director, producer, screenwriter, composer and actor throughout his career.
VIDEO | Chennai, Tamil Nadu: Actor Kamal Haasan pays homage to late director Singeetham Srinivasa Rao.(Full video available on PTI Videos - https://t.co/d8jp61yd2p) pic.twitter.com/2wifr6XgIt
Kamal Haasan, Jr NTR, SS Rajamouli, and other notable personalities in the film industry paid tribute to the legendary artist.
Long before we had the tools or the budgets, he dared to dream bigger than anyone around him. He made a film without a single line of dialogue, took us travelling through time, and moved from comedy to fantasy to deeply human drama as if no line existed between genres. He showed…
Rao started off his career as an assistant to the famous director KV Reddy, creating exemplary films like Mayabazar, Jagadeka Veeruni Katha and so on.
As an independent director he debuted with a Telugu movie Neethi Niyathi, in the year 1972.
Rao directed around 60 films in various genres in multiple languages such as Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Hindi and English. He is hailed for revolutionising South Indian cinema with his experimental outlook.
The man was celebrated for his creative genius and helmed several iconic films, including 'Raja Paarvai', 'Little John', Kamal Haasan-starrer 'Apoorva Sagodharargal', 'Michael Madana Kama Rajan', and 'Kadhala Kadhala'.
Undeterred by age, he remained active in the industry and released his final film, titled 'Sing Geetham', earlier this year.
Rao was awarded two National Film Awards, five Nandi Awards, three Karnataka State Film Awards and three Filmfare Awards South. He was awarded the Life Achievement Award by the Film Federation of India in the year 2011.
(With agency inputs from PTI)