Legendary movie director, writer Singeetham Srinivasa Rao passes away

Renowned Indian filmmaker and writer Singeetham Srinivasa Rao died on Saturday evening at Kaveri Hospital in Chennai, according to family and friends. He was 94 years old. Born in Gudur, Nellore district, Rao entered the film industry at the age of 41 with his writing and direction of the Telugu movie Neeti Nijayati in 1972. Prior to this, he began his career as a dialogue writer for filmmaker K.V.

Reddy, assisting him on the groundbreaking Telugu movie Mayabazar in 1957. Over the years, Rao directed films in multiple languages, including Pushpak Vimana without any dialogue featuring Kamal Hassan and Amala. Some of his notable works include Pantulamma, Zamindaru Gari Ammayi, America Ammayi, Pilla Zamindar, Apoorva Sagodharargal, Michael Madana Kama Rajan, Aditya 369, and many others.

Rao also acted in some movies and composed movie scores. His final film was Sing Geetham, a musical-fantasy comedy released in June 2026, which he directed and wrote the script for.