Kaikala Satyanarayana, an actor who's irreplaceable!

HYDERABAD: Tollywood Veteran actor Kaikala Satyanarayana, who passed away on Friday morning, appeared in over 750 films. His passing away brings curtains down on a golden era of legendary on-screen antagonists in Telugu films. Satyanarayana, though largely unsung, however created a strong impact with his powerful performances in negative roles before regaling the audiences with his inimitable style of comedy. His versatility puts him in an elite league of 'bad boys' who could even tickle the funny bones when it mattered. 

Hence, Satyanarayana finds a place alongside the legendary SV Ranga Rao and Rao Gopala Rao who mastered the art of delivering their best, both as villains and then as comic villains or comedians.           

A few days back, Megastar Chiranjeevi met the ailing actor even as Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jaganmohan Reddy offered him financial help.

Addressing YS Jagan at those times, Satyanarayana said that Jagan's help during those difficult times had given him and his family tremendous strength. He said that the attention shown on him once again proved the respect the chief minister had for artistes and their well-being.

Kaikala was everyone's actor. At a time when there existed camps in the Telugu film industry, Kaikala used to work with everyone without bruising their egos. The actors and directors used to create characters specially for him. Satyanarayana's acting could only be likened with legendary S V Ranga Rao as no one pulled off the roles that he portrayed with finesse. His performance as Ghatotkacha and Yama Dharma Raja in NTR's Yama Gola will forever remain etched in the hearts of the audiences.

His filmography consists of 777 movies, 28 of which are mythological films.

He acted in folk roles in 51 films while nine were historical. He worked with 200 directors and 223 of his films had a dream, 100-days run in theatres while 59 films  celebrated half-centenaries.This apart, 10 films marked centenaries while 10 other films ran for a year or more.

Beginning his journey on a modest note, Satyanarayana emerged as the quintessential figure in Telugu films -- be it in the shades of a villain, character artiste or more significantly as a comedian. He converted his burly personality into an advantage as he dominated the screen space with his inimitable style of emoting through his body. He also fine-tuned his peculiar, rumbling voice to mesmerise the audiences, with his diction and unique style of belting out the dialogues.

Satyanarayana was part of a rare breed of the Telugu actors who could effortlessly get under the skin of the versatile roles they played on screen. At the height of his villainy reign, his very appearance on the screen would evoke hatred and anger among the ordinary film fans, which, in itself, is a tribute to the versatile actor's prowess. 

Long after he established himself as the irresistible 'bad guy' in Telugu films, Satyanarayana also revealed the other side of his acting talent by performing in character roles with oodles of comedy in them. He won many fans in the latter stages of acting career, mainly with his comic timing, something that became a big hit with the film lovers.

Mainly, the film Yamaleela that was released in 1994 brought him immense fame and even today, the present generation audiences look up to the movie. Directed by S. V. Krishna Reddy, this socio-fantasy film created many records in the industry as well.

The actor made his debut with Sepoy Kuturu (1959) and then acted in many popular films including the following:

Lavakusa (1963)

Pandava Vanavasam (1965)

Paramanandaiah Sishyula Katha (1966)

Premanagar (1971)

Thatta Manaavadu (1973)

Nippulaanti Manashi (1974)

Jeevan Jyoti (1975)

Sirisirimuvva (1976)

Secretary (1976)

Chakradhari (1977)

Dana Veera Shura Karna (1977) - Bhima

Yamagola (1977) - Yama

Shubhalekha (1982) - Ankela Adiseshaiah

Srutilayalu (1987) - Vasireddy Venkatadrinaidu

Rudravina (1988)

Nari Nari Naduma Murari (1990) - Janakiramaiah

Suthradaraulu (1990) - Neelakanthaiah

Gang Leader (1991) - Jailer

Bhairava Dhveepam (1994)

Muddula Priyudu (1994)

Yamalila (1994) - Yamadu

Ghatotkachudu (1995)-

Sahasaveerudu - Sagarakanya (1996)[6]

Surya Vamsham (1998)

Subhakankshalu (1998) - Seetharamaiah

Samarasimha Reddy (1999)

Murari (2001) and

Arundhati (2009)

For his fabulous work in Tollywood he bagged many film awards, that include

Filmfare Awards

Lifetime Achievement Award (2017)

Nandi Awards

Best Motion Picture - Bangaru Kutumabam (1994)

Raghupathi Venkaiah Award - 2011

Other Honours

NTR Vigyan Trust Award

Natasekhara - Given by a non-government organization in Anantapur.

Natasekhara - Given on the stage of Gudivada Municipal Corporation

Kala Prapurna - Given by Kavali Samsrutika Sangam

Navarasanatana Sarvabhauma - A cultural association given among many nobles and nobles.

The actor has also actively participated in politics and won as Lok Sabha Member from Machilipatnam constituency on a TDP ticket. He represented the 11th Lok Sabha. He continued acting as long as his body cooperated.

In his later stage, he played a special character in the movie NTR: Kathanayakudu on the special request of Nandamuri Balakrishna. The successful film franchise, KGF is his proud presentation to the audience.

Kaikala worked with all the generations and with his passing away, the bridge between the old and new generation will vanish.

With such a legendary actor's demise, Tollywood is left in shock. He is irreplaceable and we can never find such a rare gem in the film industry.