Bhubaneswar: Legendary Indian Cinema and Media personality Ramoji Rao passed away at Hyderabad, early morning on Saturday.
The iconic figure was aptly paid tribute at the grand stage of Bhubaneswar Film Festival (BFF) in Jayadev Bhawan. His contribution to the entertainment and news media industry of the country as well as Odisha was highlighted on the occasion.
The organisers and audiences present on the occasion observed 1 minute of silence, to express deep honor to the departed soul. On behalf of the organisers of BFF, Ashok Palit, Subash Sahoo, Nilambar Rath and Suresh Patnaik were present at the occasion.
Ramoji Rao is one of the most reputed filmmakers of the modern time who has given many a superhit in Hindi and Telugu languages to the national film industry. Ramoji Rao, a filmmaker of national repute and the Founder of #Eenadu Newspaper in Telugu, ETV Channels and ETV Bharat digital platforms in various regional languages passed away at the age of 88 years.
ETV played an important role in promoting regional television in India. This media network revolutionized the country in terms of both entertainment and news programs.
Ramoji Rao’s role in Odisha media, especially in the development of both entertainment and news media is remarkable. He gave the nation the first Odia 24-hour domestic satellite channel on January 27, 2002. Hundreds of directors, sponsors, artists, technicians, anchors and journalists who have made ETV Odia today enrich the working environment of various media outlets in Odisha.
Ramoji Rao’s contribution also includes the gigantic Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad, currently under Telangana, which is a huge film studio catering to the Indian Film industry. The facility has currently become a popular tourism destination among the theme parks of Asian countries.
The 1st generation entrepreneur who started from scratch became a legend of Indian media business with his vision, hard work and people management skills.