Film Director Dasari Narayana Rao Passes Away

Renown Telugu film director and former union minister Dasari Narayana Rao passed away on Tuesday at 7:10 pm at KIMS Hospital, where he was admitted a week ago.

He was 75.

Rao had fallen sick a month ago and was hospitalized after he complained of difficulty in breathing. He was later discharged after treatment. However, his health continued to deteriorate, resulting in him being admitted again. His condition continued to worsen at KIMS, and he was put on haemo-dialysis. The doctors had performed gastric balloon surgery on him three days ago. Post this surgery, several internal organs were found to be infected. From Tuesday morning, heavy fluctuations were noticed in his blood pressure and sugar levels.

According to family sources, Rao will be cremated on Wednesday.

Dasari Narayana Rao was born on May 4, 1942, at Palakollu in West Godavari. He graduated with a BA degree, and used to take part in scores of drama competitions. He soon became a popular film director known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema and a few Hindi films. He had directed 151 films, produced 53, and penned dialogues for over 250. He also acted in Telugu, Tamil and Kannada languages. He received two National Film Awards, nine Nandi Awards and four Filmfare South Awards.

Dasari was elected to the Rajya Sabha and became a minister in the UPA government. On June 11, 2013, the CBI booked him for receiving Rs 2.25 crores from Naveen Jindal in connection with the coalgate scam.