Gudivada shocked over actor Kaikala Satyanarayana’s death

The people of Gudivada, particularly relatives, friends and others who had a close association with and admiration for veteran actor Kaikala Satyanarayana plunged into grief with his demise Friday morning. They recalled his valuable contributions to the field of theatre arts and the Telugu film industry in his career that spanned a phenomenal six decades. He had a tremendous following in Gudivada, where there is a street named after him

“Satyanarayana had many friends, relatives and well wishers in addition to die-hard fans in Gudivada” said Kaikala Siva, one of the actor’s nephews. Speaking to The Hindu over phone, Mr. Siva said that Satyanarayana got a Kala Mandir constructed in Gudivada with his personal donation that was matched with government funds. He acted in 777 films in which he donned a variety of roles.

Satyanarayana was born at Kavutaram village in Gudlavalleru Mandal of Krishna district in 1935. Later, his family shifted to Gudivada owing to their timber business at that time. He was brought up and educated in Gudivada.

Before entering the Telugu film industry, Satyanarayana was a stage artiste in Prabhakar Natya Mandali for over a decade, observed Naraharisetti Prasad of Gudivada, who was a member in that organisation.

Mr. Prasad, who retired as a municipal employee, informed that Satyanarayana was known for his lead role in a popular stage play Pelli Paduchu. He said: “Satyanarayana was very active in the Natya Mandali. He was the best student of Pamarthi Subba Rao, the founder of the Natya Mandali in the 1940s. Even after the demise of Subba Rao in 2004, Satyanarayana used to visit and encourage the artists. His first film was Sipayi Koothuru in 1959, which was directed by Changayya”.

Andhra Pradesh Governor Biswa Bhusan Harichandan, Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and Leader of the Opposition N. Chandrababu Naidu expressed their condolences on the death of the versatile actor.

Mr. Harichandan expressed profound grief over the demise of Satyanarayana and said, besides making his mark in Tollywood, Satyanarayana had also served the masses as a Member of Parliament.

In his message, Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy said Satyanarayana was a towering film personality, whose death left a void that was not easy to fill. He recalled the ease with which Satyanarayana enacted a wide variety of roles across genres from mythology to crime thrillers.

Mr. Chandrababu Naidu said that Satyanarayana’s death was a great loss to the film industry, and noted that he had a brotherly relationship with N.T. Rama Rao.