The duo had shared screen space in the comedy flick, Panchathanthiram
The news of veteran Tollywood actor Kaikala Satyanarayana has come as a shock to the film industry. The 87-year-old actor breathed his last yesterday (December 23) after suffering from age-related ailments. He is survived by his wife, son and daughters. The actor has worked in over 750 films and has bagged a number of awards as well.
Kaikala Satyanarayana had cast his spell on Tamil cinema as well when he shared screen space with Kamal Haasan in the comedy flick Panchathanthiram where he played granite businessman Sanjeevi Reddy and the father-in-law of Hanumant Reddy (Sriman). In fact, his popular line from the film in Telugu, "Bedhdha Kallu Chinna Laabam, Chinna Kallu Beddha Laabam," continues to be widely used even today. Kamal Haasan took to his social media handle, to pay his tribute to the actor. He wrote, "Kaikala Sathya Narayana, whom you saw in the movie Panchatantram, has never been apart from cinema for the last 63 years. He has played a number of characters and has etched a place in the hearts of Telugu moviegoers. He has passed on. My heartfelt tribute to him (sic)."
Panchathanthiram (2002) is a comedy flick directed by KS Ravikumar, which had an ensemble cast including Kamal Haasan, Simran, Jayaram, Ramesh Aravind, Sriman, Yugi Sethu, Ramya Krishnan, Urvashi, Aishwarya, Sanghavi, Vidhya Venkatesh, Devayani and Nagesh. The film, which had story penned by Kamal Haasan himself, was a major success at the box office and was distributed by his home banner, Raaj Kamal Films International.
Popularly known as Navarasa Natana Sarvabhouma, Satyanarayana began his career in Sipayi Koothuru in 1959. Some of his popular works in the industry include Daana Veera Soora Karna, Kurukshetramu, Sri Krishnarjuna Yudham. He also ventured into politics and was a Member of Parliament for the Telugu Desam Party. He also had a fond relationship with NT Rama Rao.
Share