Chennai: Versatile and prolific producer-director T Rama Rao, who had an unerring knack for finding the popular pulse across languages and regions, passed away after a brief illness early on Wednesday. He was 83.

Known for making films at a brisk pace, he was a hugely in-demand director for Hindi films produced in the South in the 1980s. Family yarns (Judaai, Sansar), conservative romantic drama (’Maang Bharo Sajna’, ‘Ek Hi Bhool’), inspirational stories (’Nache Mayuri’), action films (’Andha Kanoon’, ‘Watan Ke Rakhwale’) - Rama Rao found success in a variety of genres.

Making his debut as a director in the Telugu film ‘Navarathri’, featuring A Nageswara Rao in 1966, Rama Rao directed a slew of Telugu films till the late 70s including ‘Jeevana Tarangalu’ and ‘Yamagola’. He made his Hindi debut by remaking ‘Yamagola’ as ‘Lok Parlok’ in 1979. The film created a huge controversy and was briefly banned.

There was no looking back for Rao till 2000, as remade several Tamil and Telugu films in Hindi and directed several leading Bollywood heroes including Amitabh Bachchan, Jeetendra, Dharmendra, Mithun Chakraborty, Anil Kapoor as well as female stars Rekha, Sridevi, Jaya Prada and Madhuri Dixit. Rama Rao launched actor Rajinikanth in Hindi, when he remade Tamil hit ‘Sattam Oru Iruttarai’ as ‘Andha Kaanoon’ in which Amitabh made a special appearance. He also directed one of Kamal Haasan’s early Hindi films, the amiable hit, ‘Yeh Toh Kamaal Ho Gaya’.

From the early 2000s, he turned his attention back to Kollywood as a producer and made quite a few hits including actor Vikram’s ‘Dhil’ and ‘Arul’.