![]() On one hand, there was this poet who would not compromise on his values and in his choice of words and on the other hand was Telugu cinema, where formulas for commercial success meant there was little respect for those. Movies offered that much-needed space for songwriting, and it was a win-win for both Sastry garu and Telugu moviedom. And on the other hand, he did not know enough Chandas (in his own words) to write metrical poetry. His upbringing rooted in traditional literature probably pushed him to do something rooted in rhythm. He said he did not want to write free-verse (vachana-kavitvam). ![]() Many of the greats mentioned above did not take to writing lyrics as their profession, but Sirivennela garu did. And reigned at a time when the odd good lyric would be drowned in loud and clumsy music, and lyrics, in general, were giving way to degeneracy. ![]() Unique because he brought a philosophical touch to the most mundane situations. And Sirivennela garu was probably the last in this list and the most unique. Dr C Narayana Reddy was a Jnanpith awardee. Many of them were known outside of filmdom as great poets and researchers. Narayana Reddy, Atreya and Veturi Sundararamamurthy. There has been a hoary lineage of lyric-writers in Telugu cinema starting from Senior Samudrala (Sri Samudrala Raghavacharya), Dasharathi, Srisri, Arudra, Devulapalli, C. That readiness, vision, way with words was due to his genius and his upbringing. But in that movie, it felt as if there was a fully mature poet writing his magnum opus. Artists evolve in their craft, and their first work is rarely their best. He arrived with a bang in the movie Sirivennela, a movie that became his de-facto surname. To showcase this in a medium known to be increasingly inimical to such values was a tight-rope walk, and he excelled in doing so for three and a half decades. His vision and philosophy reflected the quintessence of Bharatiyata. In the passing away of Chembolu Seetharama Sastry garu, popularly known as Sirivennela Seetharama Sastry, Telugu cinema lost its conscience-keeper and Telugus a great poet. ![]()
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