He was one of the instrumental figures in moving the Telugu cinema industry from Madras to Hyderabad in the early 1960s. He established Annapurna Studios in 1975 to provide infrastructural support to the Telugu film industry in Hyderabad. He later started the Annapurna International School of Film and Media within Annapurna Studios in 2011. "Manam" (2014) was the last film of Rao, who died on 22 January 2014 during the film's production phase. The film was a "befitting swansong", as he always famously said that he wanted to die acting. The film was screened at the 45th International Film Festival of India in the "Homage to ANR" section on 29 November 2014.