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The veteran was dedicated to theatre and has given 12,000 performances

He was dedicated to theatre for the last six decades and has given 12,000 performances. The veteran’s last days were marked with poverty. After his death, admirers met at a condolence function presided over by the vice chancellor of Telugu University Avula Manjulatha, who spoke about the need to create a trust to help such artistes. Pridhvi was also a great harmonist and is remembered for the way he trained many an enthusiastic theatre artiste in rendering verses perfectly.

He himself was the protégée of well known theatre and cine artiste ‘Eelapata’ Raghuramaiah. The latter treated Pridhvi as his adopted son. Pridhvi stayed with him for a long time and learned the art for nearly 12 years.

He was trained in verse rendition and Hindustani music, in which Raghuramaiah was adept. He played the roles of Krishna in Tulabharam, Gayopakhyanam and Mahabharata plays and Rama and Lord Venkateswara in other plays. Recording company HMV released 50 discs with his verses and songs. It was a record for any artiste. He was also part of chorus groups in playback with Ghantasala and Suseela.

He trained spastic children in theatre arts and escorted 18 of them to various performances across the state. He teamed up with celebrated theatre artistes of yesteryears like Abburi, Addanki, Madhavapeddi, Gaggayya, Sthanam and others. He was the recipient of the State Government’s NTR stage award. He was born in 1928 at Devangapuri of Prakasam District.

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