Kasinadhuni Viswanath, a renowned filmmaker and Dadasaheb Phalke award winner, passed away around midnight on Thursday at the age of 92. A local private hospital is where he breathed his death. According to PTI, the director had been sick for some time due to age-related health problems.

Filmmakers SS Rajamouli and MM Keeravani, musicians S. Thaman and S. Thaman, actors Chiranjeevi and others gathered in Hyderabad to honor the life and career of renowned filmmaker Kalatapasvi K Viswanath.

According to a press release from the Telangana Chief Minister’s Office, K Chandrasekhar Rao has offered his condolences over Viswanath’s passing. “Viswanath was the kind of unique, talented cinema director who could take a simple story and transform it into a timeless classic on the silver screen.”

Andhra Pradesh’s Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy shared his sadness over the passing of the director in a tweet.

Reflecting the best of Indian and Telugu artistic traditions, Vishwanath is a must-see. The Telugu cinema industry has received unprecedented acclaim thanks to his films. The Telugu people would remember him as an artist for the rest of time “That’s what he had to say, he clarified.

Find out more about K Viswanath, the director. Viswanath, better known by his stage name “Kalatapasvi,” was born in Andhra Pradesh in February of 1930. He was a big deal not only in Telugu movies but also in Tamil and Hindi flicks, so much so that he was the 48th person to win India’s highest film honor, the Dadasaheb Phalke. The 2016 honor was bestowed upon him.

After beginning his career as a sound artist, Viswanath went on to direct several critically acclaimed films, including “Sankarabharanam,” “Sagara Sangamam,” “Swati Mutyam,” “Saptapadi,” “Kaamchor,” “Sanjog,” and “Jaag Utha Insaan.”

In addition to receiving the Padma Shri in 1992, he has won five National Awards, twenty Nandi Awards (presented by the government of Andhra Pradesh), ten Filmfare Awards, and a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Viswanath, a legend in the Telugu cinema industry, directed fifty films beginning in 1965. Besides working in Hollywood, he also dabbled in Tamil and Hindi movies. The film “Aatma Gowravam,” in which Akkineni Nageswara Rao appeared, was his directorial debut; it was nominated for and won the Nandi Award for best feature film.

Next came “Chelleli Kapuram,” “O Seeta Katha,” “Jeevana Jyoti,” and “Sarada” from the director. The films “Swarabhishekam” (which he also directed), “Pandurangadu,” “Narasimha Naidu,” “Lakshmi Narasimha,” and “Seemasimham,” “Kuruthipunal,” “Kakkai Siraginilae,” and “Bagavathi,” all featured Viswanath in prominent roles.