Veteran Telugu filmmaker Sagar dies at 70 in Chennai home; Srinu Vaitla pays tribute to his 'guru'

Telugu filmmaker Sagar died in Chennai due to age-related ailments on Thursday. He was 70. Here's how director Srinu Vaitla reacted to the death of his ‘guru (teacher)’.

Well-known Telugu filmmaker Sagar, who rose to fame with films such as Amma Donga, Stuvartupuram Dongalu, died in the wee hours of Thursday at his residence in Chennai due to age-related ailments, as per reports. He was 70.

Telugu filmmaker Sagar died at the age of 70.

Sagar made his directorial debut with Rakasiloya in 1983 and went on to direct around 35 films during his span as a filmmaker. His breakout film was Stuvartpuram Dongalu, which was a runaway hit. Some of his other popular films include Public Rowdy, Daadi, Nakshatra Poratam, Amma Donga, Bharatasimham, Ammanaakodalaa, Alumagalu, Jagadekaveerudu, Ramasakkanodu and Anveshna among others.

He had worked with popular actors of the 1990’s such as Bhanu Chander, Suman and even Krishna Ghattamaneni. Sagar had a long list of assistants and some of them such as Srinu Vaitla, VV Vinayak, Ravi Kumar Chowdhary, and G Nageswara Reddy went on to become successful directors.

Reacting to the demise of his guru, Srinu Vaitla tweeted on Thursday, “It is extremely painful to know that my guru Sagar garu is no more. He took care of all his assistants very affectionately and taught many valuable things. He was a great support for all of us. You will be remembered forever sir Om Shanthi (sic).”