Veteran Telugu actor Kaikala Satyanarayana passes away, celebrities pay tribute

With a career spanning more than four decades,Kaikala Satyanarayana has acted in more than 750 movies.

Hyderabad, Dec 23: Legendary Telugu actor Kaikala Satyanarayana passed away in the early hours of Friday in his Hyderabad residence. He was 87.

He was reportedly suffering from age-related ailments for the past few months and he breathed his last on Friday at around 4 am.

With a career spanning more than four decades, he appeared in over 750 films.

He was also active and served as the Member of Parliament in the 11th Lok Sabha representing Machilipatnam constituency from Telugu Desam Party.

Kaikala Satyanarayana has bagged several honorary awards including the likes of 2011 Raghupati Venkaiah award, 2017 Filmfare lifetime achievement award for Telugu cinema and Andhra Pradesh government's Nandi film awards.

He first debuted in Changayya's 1959 film Supayi Koothuru. A year later, he featured in Apoorva Sahasra Siraccheda Chintamani. He also starred in Kanaka Durga Pooja Mahima, in which he featured as an antagonist for the first time. His last screen presence was in the movie Arundhathi (2009).

Apart from being an actor, he has also produced many movies including Kodama Simham (1990), Bangaru Kutumbam (1994), and Muddula Mogudu (1997).

As soon as the news broke, members of the Telugu film fraternity paid tribute to the veteran actor on social media.

"Saddened to know about the passing of Kaikala Satyanarayana garu. An absolute legend who immortalised many characters on our Telugu silver screen. Om Shanti," actor Kalyanram paid tribute to Kaikala Satyanarayanain on twitter.

"Deeply saddened to hear the demise of Kaikala Satyanarayana Garu... His contribution to our film industry will be remembered forever !! May his soul rest in peace," Ram Charan wrote.

Producer MS Raju wrote, "Shocked on the demise of #KaikalaSatyanarayana garu..Our industry has lost one more Legend. Rest in peace sir"

Kaikala Satyanarayana is survived by his wife Nageswaramma Satyanarayana, two daughters and two sons.