director Kodi Ramakrishna with ‘head band’ no more

Seasoned director Kodi Ramakrishna who is known for hard-hitting movies like ‘Ankusam’, ‘Agraham’ and ‘Arundhati’ breathed his last on Friday afternoon at a private hospital at Gachibowli in Hyderabad.

Kodi Ramakrishna was hospitalized after he had a severe breathing woes for the last three days. He was put on ventilator on Thursday morning after he didn’t respond to the treatment. A couple of specialists were brought in from Chennai but it went in vain, as the erstwhile assistant of Dasari Narayana Rao lost the battle with life at the age of 69. Born in Palakollu, West Godavari district, Kodi Ramakrishna made his directorial debut with ‘Intlo Ramayya Veedhilo Krishnayya’ in 1982. He gave the first blockbuster to Balakrishna with ‘Mangamma Gari Manavadu’ and followed it up with hits like ‘Muddula Mavayya’.

He teamed up with Dr Rajasekhaar and delivered hits like ‘Ankusham’ and ‘Agraham’. He made ‘Lady Boss’ with Vijayashanti and devotional films like ‘Ammoru’ and ‘Devi’ and his last blockbuster was ‘Arundhati’ in 2009 which triggered a trend for horror movies in T-town. His hard-hitting political satire ‘Bharat Bandh’ created a sensation of sorts.

He worked with stars like Chiranjeevi (Richshawadu and Anji), Nagarjuna(Murali Krishnudu), Venkatesh (Sathruvu), Jagapathi Babu (Dongaata), Naveen (Pelli) in his 100-odd movies including Tamil and Kannada. He was honoured with prestigious Raghupati Venkaiah Award for his contribution to Telugu cinema for three decades.