Veteran Tollywood actor Kaikala Satyanarayana is no more. He breathed his last at his Jubilee Hills residence at 4.30am on Friday after a brief illness.
He was 87 years old. He is survived by his two daughters. The final rites of Satyanarayana would be performed at Mahaprasthanam Crematorium in Jubilee Hills on Saturday.
In his film career spanning over 60 years, Satyanarayana starred in over 750 films in almost every character – hero, villain, character artist and comedian.
Satyanarayana also had a brief stint in politics. He was voted the 11th Lok Sabha of Machilipatnam on the Telugu Desam Party Ticket. But it didn’t last long as in 1998 Lok Sabha elections were held again.
He had received several awards including the 2011 Raghupati Venkaiah Award and the 2017 Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award for Telugu Cinema.
Satyanarayana was born in Krishna district on July 25, 1935 and completed his primary education in Gudlavalleru and intermediate education in Vijayawada. He graduated from Gudivada College.
Kaikala was first noticed by DL Narayana who offered him a role in his 1959 film Supayi Koothuru directed by Changayya. In many films he was offered cheating roles for NTR. NTR offered Satyanarayana a role in his 1960 film Apoorva Sahasra Siraccheda Chintamani directed by SD Lal. Satyanarayana played the role of a prince.
It was B Vittalacharya who first gave him the villain role in Kanaka Durga Pooja Mahima. Since then he has shone in villain roles.
Satyanarayana founded the production house Rama Films and directed films such as Kodama Simham (1990), Bangaru Kutumbam (1994) and Muddula Mogudu (1997). The last film he acted in was in Arundhati which was filmed in 2009.
He has been suffering from age-related issues for some time and breathed his last in the early hours of Friday morning.