Kannada producer Ramu succumbs to COVID-19

Ramu, Kannada film producer, succumbed to COVID-19 in the city on Monday. He was 52. He is survived by his actor-wife, Malashri, and two children. Mr. Ramu’s rise in the film industry is one from rags

Ramu, Kannada film producer, succumbed to COVID-19 in the city on Monday. He was 52. He is survived by his actor-wife, Malashri, and two children. Mr. Ramu’s rise in the film industry is one from rags to riches, when he started out as an office boy at a film production firm in Gandhinagar, the hub of Kannada film industry in the city. In 1993, he produced an action thriller, Golibar, which was a super hit. His second film Lockup Death earned him the epithet ‘Koti’ Ramu, as it was one of the first Kannada films produced on a budget of over ₹1 crore, which also went on to be a blockbuster, establishing him as a leading producer of Kannada cinema with a penchant for action thrillers. He then went on to marry Ms. Malashri, a leading Kannada actor. In a career spanning nearly three decades, he produced 39 films, including a few starring his wife. He, however, suffered losses over the last decade and was mired in financial issues, sources close to the family said.