Ramanand Sagar, the producer-director who became a household name after he made the epic serial "Ramayan" in the late 1980s, has died here at the age of 87.

Sagar, who passed away at around 11.30 p.m. Monday following complications related to old age, was a leading filmmaker and producer famous for his Doordarshan serials "Ramayan", "Vikram-Betal" and "Shri Krishna".

Earlier he had worked as the news editor of Daily Milap, a prominent Punjabi newspaper. He penned 32 short stories, three long-short stories, one novel, two serialised stories and two stage plays.

His "Jwaar Bhata" (High and low tide, 1943), "Ainey" (mirrors, 1944), "Goura" (1948) etc are considered to be significant contributions to literature.

He made his first film, "Raiders of the Rail Road", a silent film, in 1936. In 1950, he launched his own production company Sagar Arts and the first talkie was "Mehmaan" (The guest).

Other blockbusters made by him include "Ghunghat", "Aarzoo" and "Geet".

His serial "Ramayan" made waves in Indian television history. Following its trail blazing success was "Shri Krishna" which earned over Rs.1 billion. He was conferred the Padma Shri in 2001.