Telugu film producer Doraswami Raju dies at 74

Noted Telugu film producerV Doraswamy Raju died at a super-speciality hospital here onMonday following a cardiac arrest.

Raju, 74, was admitted on January 16 with healthissues and the end came at 8.20 AM, hospital sources said.

Raju, also a film distributor, produced severalsuccessful films, including 'Annamayya', 'President garipellam', 'Kirayi Dada' (all with Nagarjuna), 'Sitaramayya gariManavaralu' with legendary Akkineni Nageswara Rao and'Simhadri' with junior NTR.

'Annamayya', a film on the life of renowned saintcomposer Tallapaka Annamacharya, is considered a memorablefilm in Telugu cinema.

'Sitaramayya gari Manavaralu', released in 1991, hadwon numerous awards.

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao,veteran director K Raghavendra Rao, actor junior NTR andothers condoled the death of Raju.

Raju contributed a lot to the growth of the filmindustry as a producer and film distributor, the CM said.

''We lost one of Telugu Cinemas passionatedistributors & producers, VMC Doraswami Raju garu.Mycondolences to his family,'' Raghavendra Rao, who directed'Annamayya', tweeted.

Expressing anguish over the demise, junior NTR, agrandson of the legendary N T Rama Rao, said the departedproducer rendered unforgettable services to the Telugu filmindustry.