Tenelolike poola balalaku muunnaalla aayuvicchina vaadinedi koredi…
Banda raallanu chiraayuvuga jeevinchamani aanaticchina vaadinedi adigedi…
Aadibhiskhuvu vaadinedi koredi… Boodidechhe vaadinedi adigedi…
Hyderabad: Thus run the lines in the superhit lyric of Seetharama Sastry in the movie Sirivennela that inadvertently became his surname. These philosophical lines penned by him for the movie Sirivennela in a unique style of cursing the Lord (Shiva) by praise (praising through profanity) carry a profound meaning — “What do I seek from the one (the God) who bestowed the flowers, flush with nectar, with a very short life of just three days, and the boulders with eternal life. What do I ask the first alm-seeker, who gifts ash?”
By his outstanding rendition, S.P. Balasubrahmanyam gave these powerful lyrics eternity. Sirivennela, as Seetharama Sastry is popularly known, has immensely contributed to the Telugu tinsel world by making bombastic Sanskritised Telugu words dance to the tunes of the musicians and singers. He has an uncanny knack of embedding expressions that would be hard nuts to crack, yet easily hummed by even the unlettered. This unrivalled art of his is a literary treat to the musicians' instincts. Seetharama Sastry always struck a chord with directors, music directors, musicians, singers and, of course, the audience through his lilting lyrics.
Jagamantha kutumbam naadi… eakaaki jeevitham naadi, a song enacted by Prabhas in Chakram, directed by Krishna Vamsi, wells up the eyes of audience even to date. Typical of a wordsmith that he was, Seetharama Sastry made sure his mesmerising lyrics touched the fans of almost every star on the Telugu silver screen. From the legendary Akkineni Nageswara Rao to Megastar Chiranjeevi, the range of stars who enacted the songs inked by Sirivennela include: Krishna, Sobhan Babu, Nagarjuna, Balakrishna, Venkatesh, Suman, Rajasekhar, Jagapathi Babu, Srikanth, and Naga Chaitanya.
He has been so contemporary and relevant in the filmy firmament that his latest number Ee dosti, which is already a superhit, is going to enthrall the audience of Rajamouli’s upcoming movie RRR starring Ram Charan and Jr NTR. None else other than Seetharama Sastry could have written something like Puliki — Vilukaadiki; Thala ki — Uri thaaduki; Kadile karchicchu ki — Kasire vadagallaki; Raviki — Meghaaniki… Ee dosti. He helmed in the song the strange and oxymoronic friendships between the combos of tiger-archer; head-hanging rope; raging forest fire-angry hailstorms; and sun-cloud in the song, which was released, that has set the screens ablaze.
Several prominent directors, including K. Raghavendra Rao, Ram Gopal Varma, S.V. Krishna Reddy, A. Kodanadarami Reddy, Krishna Vamsi, and so on had him write songs for their movies. Not for nothing he was decorated with the Nandi Awards for best lyrics on as many as 12 occasions, apart from four Filmfare awards. The lyrical peregrination of Seetharama Sastry has touched almost all sections of music lovers of the Telugu movies. The poet, who is for technical reasons called a lyricist, would have bagged a 'Jananpeeth', had the literature of the movie numbers been considered for an award of that stature for literary exuberance. He carved a niche for himself by reaching out to all sections literally like his own song written for Chiranjeevi-starrer Rudraveena, Taraliraada thane vasantham… Thana dariki raani vanaala kosam…
Renowned movie director and Dada Saheb Phalke Award-winnerK. Viswanath, who introduced Sirivennela to the movie industry, tapped the potential of the mine of literature and fathomed the depths of Seetharama Sastry’s knowledge and skill to the fullest.
Intertwining innumerable meanings in his songs, by stressing multiple syllables, Seetharama Sastry reached the temporal abode of the God in the celestial world of heaven and turned into a star that he had described in Venkatesh-starrer Aadavaari maatalaku arthale verule — Allantha dooraana O taraka — himself.
Chembolu ‘Sirivennela’ Seetharama Sastry, is a writer extraordinaire who has left an indelible impression among music lovers, without being a musician. Like the lyrics of his songs, he will remain imperishable and immutable in the hearts of the Telugus. He will be greatly missed.
