M. Ranga Rao (26 April 1932 – 3 August 1990) was a prominent Indian composer who predominantly worked in Kannada cinema. Rao was known for his mellifluous scores and lilting tunes backed with strong classical nuances. "Ranga Rao" composed tunes for approximately 100 films in Kannada cinema.

Personal life

Early life

Ranga Rao was born in a small village in Andhra Pradesh on 15 October 1932. He learnt the art of playing Veena instrument at a very young age. His inspiration was his mother, Rangamma. He graduated with Diploma in Mechanical Engineering stream.

Family

M. Ranga Rao was married to Syamala Devi and they have two sons and two daughters. His wife, Syamala, died five months after her husband's death in 1991.

Career

Rao entered the film industry as a small-time actor in the films ''Swarga Seema'' (1945) and '' Yogi Vemana'' (1947). He worked a Veena player in the 1946 released film ''

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''. However, he entered the Kannada film industry as a full-fledged composer of the film ''

Nakkare Ade Swarga ''Nakkare Ade Swarga'' is a 1967 Indian Kannada-language film, directed by M. R. Vittal and produced by Srikanth Nahatha and Srikanth Patel. The film stars Narasimharaju, along with Jayanthi, Shailashree, Jr. Revathi and Thara. The film has mu ...

'' in 1967. This also marked the beginning of the legendary playback singer S. P. Balasubrahmanyam. Ranga Rao introduced (his relative) Balasubramanyam to Kannada films by offering him a duet song alongside the veteran singer

P. Susheela Pulapaka Susheela (born 13 November 1935), popularly known as P. Susheela, is an Indian playback singer associated with the South Indian cinema primarily from Andhra Pradesh for over six decades. She is one of the greatest and best-known playba ...

. Ranga Rao also worked as an assistant music director to veteran ace musician

P. Adinarayana Rao Penupatruni Adinarayana Rao (21 August 1915 – 19 August 1991) was an Indian music director, film producer, lyricist and play writer. He co-founded "Aswini Pictures" with Akkineni Nageswara Rao and produced some movies in Telugu and Tamil langu ...

for Telugu films 1. Pedda Koduku(1972) directed by

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, and 2. Krishna (Telugu actor) 1974 historical magnanimous hit

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. Along with composing numerous songs in Kannada, he also composed a few in

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...

and Malayalam languages, most of them being the dubbed works of his Kannada songs.

Death

Ranga Rao died of cancer on 2 August 1990, aged 58. He was cremated in a crematorium in Bengaluru. He and his wife are survived by their four children, children-in-law and grandchildren.

Awards

*1969 – Karnataka State Film Award for Best Music Director – ''

Hannele Chiguridaga ''Hannele Chiguridaga'' () is a 1968 Indian Kannada-language film directed by M. R. Vittal and produced by Srikanth Enterprises. The film stars Rajkumar, R. Nagendra Rao and Kalpana. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Triveni ...

'' *1982 – Karnataka State Film Award for Best Music Director – '' Hosa Belaku'' *1984 – Karnataka State Film Award for Best Music Director – '' Bandhana''

Discography

;Kannada ;Telugu * ''

Sardar Dharmanna ''Sardar Dharmanna'' is a 1987 Telugu language drama film directed by Bairisetty Bhaskara Rao and produced by Yalamanchili Saibabu. The film stars Krishnam Raju, Vishnuvardhan, Jayasudha, Radhika, Mohan Babu, and Rajani. The film had music ...

'' (1987) ;Tamil *''

Kudumbam Oru Koyil ''Kudumbam Oru Kovil'' () is a 1987 Indian Tamil-language film, directed by A. C. Tirulokchandar and produced by Anandavalli Balaji. The film stars Sivaji Ganesan, Lakshmi, Murali and Ranjini. The movie is a remake of 1985 Hindi film ''Ghar D ...

'' (1986)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rao, M. Ranga 1932 births 1990 deaths Kannada film score composers Telugu film score composers Saraswati veena players 20th-century Indian composers Film musicians from Andhra Pradesh Indian male film score composers 20th-century male musicians