At a time when many only spoke about setting up film studios in Vizag, Daggubati Ramanaidu came forward to set up the city’s first and only film studios — Ramanaidu Film Studios on the Bhimili Beach Road.

Vizag’s Lanka Satyanand, who has trained actors like Pawan Kalyan, Mahesh Babu and Prabhas among others, and Soumya Bollapragada, who had acted in one of Ramanaidu’s film, Mugguru, expressed their grief on the death of the legendary producer on Wednesday.

Lanka Satyanand said, “I remember the land on the hill being sanctioned in 2002 to Ramanaidu Garu for a studio. Working at a fast pace, he was able to open its doors in 2008. He believed that Vizag had the potential of becoming the next base for Tollywood. He took all the risks and gave Vizag a beautiful film studio.”

“He was a great man who was looked up to by the entire film industry. He was a man with a lot of history and I believe that the Telugu film industry will see no one like him again. He is an inspiration for many. He gave power to Tollywood and his death is a great loss to the industry,” he added.

Remembering the producer, Soumya Bollapragada says, “Ramanaidu Sir and Suresh Productions were like family to me. I still remember the day when he instantly took me onboard to be part of his movie Mugguru without any auditions. Since then, I had been in constant touch with sir and had also collaborated with his film school in Vizag. He loved Vizag a lot and had put in a lot of time and effort in setting up the Ramanaidu Film Studios, which was his dream project. Sir was always encouraging and supported talented artistes. His sudden demise has come as a shock. I will miss him a lot.”