It was a day of mourning for the entire film industry as close family and friends of the Nandamuri family turned up to pay their respects, a day after the tragic demise of Nandamuri Janakiram, son of former Telugu Desam MP Nandamuri Harikrishna and grandson of legendary actor N.T. Rama Rao.
Janakiram was, ironically, famous for keeping an extremely low profile and was just months away from starting a business venture in Kakinada wife Deepika’s hometown, it has been revealed
“His enterprise, an oil-related venture, was to start in a few months. For the past few years he had been working very hard for this industry,” says T. Prasanna Kumar, producer and a family friend.
“And he never used his family’s title anywhere. He wanted to be different... that’s why he went off to the States, where he worked for a software company.”
For wife Deepika too, Janakiram was a driving force always a source of encouragement. “He was the one who motivated her to finish her MBA and Deepika then picked up skills in software development.
He wanted her to be strong by herself and maybe, it was his wish that she work with him later,” adds Kumar.
Janakiram produced Athanokkade the first film ever made by NTR Arts, started by him and brother Kalyanram in 2006.
Friends and family have spoken of how “down-to-earth” he was and how he would always shy away from the media glare despite being a regular at family functions.
Janakiram’s best friend in the industry was Paruchuri Koti, the executive producer of Aagadu and Dookudu.
The 40-year-old Janakiram is survived by two children — elder son Taraka Rama Rao is named after NTR and the younger son is named Soumitri.
