Veteran southern producer D. Rama Naidu gets Padma Bhushan

Chennai: Veteran southern producer D. Rama Naidu, known for making films like `Papa Kosam` and `Prem Nagar`, has been named for the Padma Bhushan award on the eve of the 64th Republic Day.

Naidu will get the honour for his relentless contribution to Telugu cinema over the last five decades. "Big congratulations to Ramanaidu mavayya (uncle) for the Padma Bhushan", tweeted Telugu actor Sumanth. The 76-year-old producer was nominated for the prestigious award along with Telugu veteran director Bapu by the Andhra Pradesh government in November last year. In 1963, he produced his first Telugu film titled `Anuragam` starring Jaggaiah and P. Bhanumathi. Later, he made Telugu films `Ramudu Bheemudu`, `Papa Kosam`, `Prem Nagar`, and `Ahana Pellanta` among many more. In 2008, Naidu made it to the Guinness World Records for having produced movies in nine languages. Besides Telugu, his mother tongue, Naidu has made films in all other south Indian languages - Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada. He has also produced movies in Hindi, English, Bengali, Oriya and Assamese, all under his banner Suresh Productions. In Hindi, he has to his credit films such as `Prem Nagar`, `Anari`, `Bandish` and `Maqsad`. `Dharama Devatha`, `Aswaradoon` and `Staten Island` were the films he produced in Oriya, Malayalam and English respectively. The veteran producer was also awarded with `Dadasaheb Phalke Award` in 2010. His son, Telugu actor Venkatesh, is one of the leading heroes in the industry while his eldest son, Suresh Babu manages their home banner Suresh Productions. Rana Daggubati, his grandson, is also a leading actor in the southern film industry. IANS