The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : An actor in the classical mould

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Apr 28, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

An actor in the classical mould

By Our Staff Reporter

Somayajulu in a still from `Sankarabharanam'

HYDERABAD, APRIL 27. J.V. Somayajulu, more popular as `Sankara Sastry' in Telugu households, immortalised by the role of a Carnatic guru battling the influence of Western music in the early 80s film, Sankarabharanam, essayed endearing roles in films like Vamsa Vriksham, Saptapadi, Swathi Muthyam, Thyagayya and Vijeta.

Hailing from Vizianagaram district, his entertainment career spanned five illustrious decades, strode, as he did like a colossus on stage, big screen and television too. His passion for Gurazada's play, Kanyasulkam, was such that he along with his actor brother, J.V. Ramana Murthy, concised it and went on to stage it for decades together, even at the ripe age of 76! His exposition of the delightfully notorious character, `Ramappanthulu' in the play, has become legendary. He also made a 13-episode television serial on the play recently.

"It will be hard to go on without him, but he will live on in the hearts of Telugus forever," Mr. Ramana Murthy said. News of Sankara Sastry's death was received with shock all over the State.

To give a fillip to the Telugu theatre in the twin cities, Somayajulu started `Rasaranjani' along with his contemporaries like Chatla Sriramulu, Garimella Srirama Murthy and Rallapalli. He was staying away from the tinsel world for some time.

The Movie Artist's Association has condoled the death of Somayajulu. In a statement, the association president, M. Murali Mohan, said that it was a great loss to the Telugu theatre and the film industry. His void cannot be filled, he said.

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