D. Suresh Babu

Some Lesser Known Facts About D. Suresh Babu

• D. Suresh Babu is an Indian film producer and distributor, who is the father of popular Indian actor Rana Daggubati. He is well known for majorly producing Telugu films such as Ganesh (1998), Kalisundam Raa (2000), Neeku Nenu Naaku Nuvvu (2003), Masala (2013), Drushyam (2014), and Gopala Gopala (2015).

• Suresh completed his first two years of mechanical engineering at the College of Engineering, Guindy, Chennai. In 1981, he enrolled himself at the University of Michigan, Michigan, USA, where he completed the remaining years of his engineering degree. ^[10]Idlebrain

  

• Suresh came back to India after completing his mechanical engineering degree from the University of Michigan in the USA. He aspired to launch his own business in India but things didn’t go as planned and eventually, he joined his father’s film production business.

• Although he made his debut as a producer with the film Devata in 1982, Suresh did not claim his name as a producer on the film’s credit list. However, in 1990, after the release of the Telugu film Bobbili Raja, Suresh started declaring his name as a producer on the film’s credit list.

• In December 1983, Suresh launched Suresh Productions Private Limited, an Indian film production and distribution company in Hyderabad.

• Suresh Babu produced a few Telugu films, Bobbili Raja (1990), Preminchukundam Raa (1997), Jayam Manadera (2000), Kalisundam Raa (2000), Malliswari (2004), Tulasi (2007), Namo Venkatesa (2010), Drushyam (2014), and Gopala Gopala (2015), which starred his brother Daggubati Venkatesh.

• Suresh produced many Telugu films like Coolie No.1 (1991), Preminchukundam Raa (1997), Malliswari (2004), Baladur (2008), Avunu 2 (2015), Nene Raju Nene Mantri (2017), Venky Mama (2019), Drushyam 2 (2021), Dongalunnaru Jaagratha (2022), and many more.

• Suresh presented a few Telugu films like Ashta Chamma (2008), Namo Venkatesa (2010), Eega (2012), Uyyala Jampala (2013), Thanu Nenu (2015), Mental Madhilo (2017), and Virata Parvam (2022).

• For the period of 2011-12, Suresh was elected as the president of the AP Film Chamber of Commerce. In 2015, the AP Film Chamber of Commerce was renamed to the Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce following the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh. In the same year, Suresh was elected as the new president of the Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce. ^[11]Deccan Chronicle

• Suresh, in 2012, was elected as the vice president of Hyderabad Angels, an investment company, which majorly invests in technology-based small start-ups.

• In 2012, Suresh’s father, Ramanaidu was awarded the third-highest civilian award in India Padma Bhushan for his immense contribution to the Telugu film industry.

• D. Suresh Babu’s father, Daggubati Ramanaidu, was known for primarily producing Telugu films. After battling cancer for a long period of time, Ramanaidu took his last breath on 18 February 2015, at the age of 78.

• Suresh Babu’s daughter-in-law, Miheeka owns an event management company, Dew Drop Design Studio. 

• Suresh, in an interview, talked about his aspirations of becoming an engineer but on the contrary, he joined his family business of film production. He revealed that due to the unstable nature of the movie business, his parents never wanted their children to make a career in the film industry and said,
  

  My dad wanted one of us (Me and Venkatesh) to become a doctor. At that time, Suresh Productions was not a big player. Some producers asked me to act in film when I was a child. I did not act. It was the same case with Venky. My parents did not want us to get into movie business as moviemaking was considered to be a risky business at that point of time. We have to gamble with money and the returns are not assured. That’s why I got into engineering. My uncle was an engineer. Hence, I also wanted to become engineer, start up an industry and serve the society.”

• In an interview, Suresh stated that he had a great interest in sports and cricket, football, and baseball were one of his favourite sports.

• Suresh’s son, Rana Daggubati, was blind in his right eye, and he used to see only with his left eye. Later, he underwent an eye transplant surgery to cure his vision.

• Suresh serves as a director in a few companies like Asian Theatres Limited, Asian Cinema & Multiplexes Private Limited, Century Flour Mills Private Limited, Weatherstone Building Blocks Private Limited, Dynamo, Energy Trading Private Limited, Anthill Studio Private Limited, Daggubati Farms And Estates Pvt Ltd, Fibermite Composites Limited, and Southern India Depository Services Private Limited.

• Suresh Babu serves as the chairman of Ramanaidu Film School and Ramanaidu Charitable Trust.

• Suresh works as a designated partner in a few companies like Victory Real Ventures Llp, Suresh Productions Entertainment Llp, Prasads Sp Entertainment Llp, Geetha Sp Entertainment Llp, Geetha Sp Entertainment Llp, and Deccan Dreams Animations Llp.

• According to some media sources, it was alleged that Suresh Babu was involved in the evasion of tax. On 20 November 2019, to investigate the matter, his residence and studio were raided by the income tax department officials, and they seized some documents from the premises to substantiate Suresh’s alleged involvement in the tax evasion. ^[12]The Times of India

• In 2020, in an interview, Suresh talked about the declining condition of the theatre business after the launch of OTT platforms like Amazon, Netflix, and Disney+ Hotstar. He claimed that people instead of going to theatres prefer to watch films on digital platforms, which eventually worsened the business of his theatres and said,
  

  People are not coming to theaters as they are opting for Netflix and Amazon to watch all the latest movies. They are only watching the big spectacles like Sye Raa and Saaho in theaters. The situation is so worse that I am unable to pay even power bills, forget about staff salaries for my theaters.”

• A clip of Suresh Babu went viral on social media on 4 January 2023 in which he was seen controlling the traffic near Film Nagar in Hyderabad. Suresh, who got stuck in the traffic jam, managed to clear it within no time.