Veteran director Kodi Ramakrishna passes away

Veteran filmmaker Kodi Ramakrishna, who had made over 100 films in a career spanning 30 years, passed away on Friday due to an age-related illness. Known for his versatility as a filmmaker, Kodi had worked with some of Tollywood's biggest stars, including Chiranjeevi, Balakrishna and Venkatesh. Some of his popular films include Intlo Ramayya Veedi Lo Krishnayya (1982), Mangamma Gari Manavadu (1984), Station Master (1988), Dongata (1997), Anji (2004) and Arundhati (2009).
In his illustrious career of over three decades, Kodi Ramakrishna worked as a filmmaker and screenwriter in Telugu, Malayalam and Tamil films. He also acted in a few films such as Dongata, Aasti Mooredu Asha Bharedu, Attagaaroo Swagatam, Inti Donga and Mudilla Muchata.
Ramakrishna was known for sporting a trademark bandana, which he would wear at all times. In an interview, he once said that he initially wore it to protect his head from sunlight but people liked his look so much that they prepared a headband for him on sets the next day. After a while, it became a matter of ‘sentiment’ for him. Recalling an incident, he had said, “Director Balachander had come to visit me on the sets when I was wearing a colourful headband. At that moment, a butterfly came and rested on the headband, and Balachander remarked that I have a deep connection with the band.”
In 2012, he was conferred with Raghupathi Venkaiah award for his contribution to Telugu cinema. His last directorial venture was Avatharam in 2014, which was a devotional drama. One of his last blockbusters was the Anushka Shetty-starrer Arundhati, which was hailed as a game-changer in Telugu cinema and catapulted Anushka as the reigning queen of Tollywood.