Ace Kannada film producer and actor Malashri’s husband Koti Ramu, who was being treated at MS Ramaiah Hospital in Bengaluru for Covid-19, passed away on Monday night. He was 53.
“He was admitted to the hospital four days ago after he contracted the virus. He breathed his last at around 8 pm,” Hanumanthu, the producer’s relative, told DH.
Kannada and Culture Minister Aravind Limbavali, former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy, Power Star Puneeth Rajkumar and several others condoled Ramu’s death.
Ramu produced about 39 films in Kannada under the banner Ramu Enterprises. He ventured into the Kannada film industry as a distributor in the early 90s. He achieved great success with ‘Chaitrada Premanjali’.
He had a penchant for producing mostly action films. 'Goilbar' (1993) was his first film as a producer, while his last was ‘99’ (2019) a remake of Tamil film '96'.
Films bankrolled by Ramu like 'Golibar' (1993), 'Lockup Death' (1994), 'AK-47' (1999), 'Kalasipalya' (2004) and 'Shivajinagara' (2014) became blockbusters.
Due to the big budget of over Rs one crore for a film 25 years ago, he was popularly known as 'Koti' (crore) Ramu.
He had invested in 'Mangalya Bandhana' (1993), which had Malashri in the lead role. The two fell in love and tied the knot after the film. The couple have a daughter, Ananya and son Aryan. Ramu's last rites will be held at Kodigehalli in Kunigal Taluk, Tumakaru, on Tuesday.
He produced many films of Malashri like 'Hello Sister' (1995), 'Lady Commissioner' (1997), 'Chamundi' (2000), 'Durgi' (2004), 'Shakti' (2011), 'Veera', 'Election' (2013) and 'Ganga' (2015).