Ramoji Rao.
Credit: X/@vamsi84
Eenadu and Ramoji Film City founder Ramoji Rao, passed away Saturday morning in Hyderabad, Telangana while undergoing treatment at Star Hospital. He was 87.
Cherukuri Ramoji Rao headed the Ramoji Group that has various businesses under the label -- from entertainment to retail and education.
Born on November 16, 1936, he was a businessman and a film producer too. He owns Eenadu newspaper, ETV Network, Ushakiran Movies and ETV Bharat.
Eenadu is a daily newspaper that was started in 1974 in Vishakhapatnam.
ETV Network is a well-known television network with 12 channels that airs shows in eight languages: Telugu, Bangla, Marathi, Kannada, Oriya, Gujarati, Urdu and Hindi.
Ushakiran Movies has produced over 80 films in various languages.
ETV Bharat is a news platform that offers services digitally via app and web portal. Covering over 13 languages, the news platform has a reach in 24 states.
Ramoji Rao bagged many awards for his films along with Padma Vibhushan in 2016. He won National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu (producer) – Nuvve Kavali in 2000. He also won four Filmfare Awards and five Nandi Awards.
As of 2021, his net worth was recorded to be $4.5 billion (Rs 37,583 crore).