Veteran Telugu actor Kaikala Satyanarayana passes away, tributes pour in

Tollywood veteran Kaikala Satyanarayana died in the wee hours on Friday at his home in Filmnagar. aged 87. He was suffering from age-related ailments over the past several days. Family sources said that the Satyanarayana's last rites will be performed on Saturday.

Born on July 25, 1935 in Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh, Satyanarayana debuted with Telugu movie 'Sipai Koothuru' in 1959.

Satyanarayana went on to act in around 800 movies in a career spanning six decades. Although he excelled as the quintessential bad man in the movies, he was also feted for his portrayal of mythological characters, especially Lord Yama, the Hindu god of death.

From NT Rama Rao, Nageswara Rao, Krishna to Chiranjeevi, Nagarjuna, Venkatesh, Balakrishna, and Prabhas, Allu Arjun, Satyanarayana acted alongside the entire gamut of Tollywood film stars spanning several generations. He last appeared in 2019 Mahesh Babu starrer 'Maharshi'.

Tollywood stars and personalities from all walks of life in the two Telugu states have condoled the death of Satyanarayana who was famed for his acting prowess and kind-heartedness.

He also served as the Member of Parliament in the 11th Lok Sabha representing Machilipatnam constituency from Telugu Desam Party. He is the recipient of the 2011 Raghupathi Venkaiah Award, and 2017 Filmfare Award for lifetime achievement in Telugu cinema.

Kaikala was first offered a role in cinema by D. L. Narayana in his film Sipayi Koothuru directed by Changayya in 1959. Though it did not do well at the box office, he was noticed for his resemblance to N.T. Rama Rao (NTR).

He soon became a prospective candidate to play dupe to NTR. Satyanarayana fitted the place well as dupe to NTR in several movies. Later, NTR offered him a role in his film Apoorva Sahasra Siraccheda Chintamani in 1960, directed by S. D. Lal. 

Epic movies maker B. Vittalacharya casted him in several negative roles in Kanaka Durga Pooja Mahima and others and he established himself in villain roles perfectly. He established Rama Films production house and made films such as Kodama Simham (1990), Bangaru Kutumbam (1994), and Muddula Mogudu (1997). He went on to appear in 800 films.