Daggubati Ramanaidu, 79, passed away today after protracted illness.

Suresh Productions, the film production house he had set up, has produced over150 films in about 15 Indian languages.

Born in 1936, he moved to Madras in early 1960s in search of opportunities in the film industry.

He had set up the Rama Naidu Studios in Hyderabad in late 1980s and produced several films. His elder son Suresh took over the business. His another son Venkatesh is a Telugu actor.

Ramanaidu was conferred with Dada Saheb Phalke Award in 2009 and Padmabhushan in 2012. He introduced about 25 directors to the film industry.

He represented the Bapatla Lok Sabha constituency for Telugu Desam Party. He, however, kept away from politics for the last few years.

He expanded his film business by setting up a studio in Visakhapatnam.

Film actors Chiranjeevi, Nagarjuna, Rajasekhar and several others from the film industry paid tributes to the departed producer and consoled his family members.

Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, N Chandrababu Naidu and K Chandrasekhara Rao, mourned Ramanaidu's death.