Telugu Actress Suryakantham Jayanthi: Unknown Facts About The Evergreen Reel Gayyali Atta

October 28th marks the 98th birth anniversary of Telugu actress Suryakantham popular as the ‘Gayyali Atta’ and the main protagonist of the Telugu film Gundamma Katha which featured top actors like NT Rama Rao, Akkineni Nageshwara Rao, SV Ranga Rao, Savithri and Jamuna.

She carried the role on her shoulders effortlessly and became a star in her own right after the movie became a commercial hit.

Suryakantham went on to act in more than 700 films in the South film industry.

Presenting a few unknown facts about the iconic actress remembered for her roles as a cruel mother-in-law with a left-hand habit, who carved for herself a unique place in the industry.

Suryakantham was born on 28 October 1924 in the East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh.

At the age of 6, she started learning how to dance and sing and used to watch a lot of Hindi films, especially that of Prithviraj Kapoor.

She had an interest in acting in movies and went to Chennai with her maternal grandmother to try her luck. Her first film was Narada Naradi in 1946.

In the year 1950, she married a High Court Judge, Peddibhotla Venkata Chalapati Rao.

She never had children of her own but adopted her sister’s son Dittakavi Ananthapadmanabha Murthy.

he bagged a negative role in the 1950 film Samsaram for which she gained a lot of appreciation.

Gundamma Katha released in 1960 established her as a star actress.

She was a one-take actress and could deliver dialogues just by reading them once.

Though Suryakantham had no formal education, she could speak 10 languages. She learned French and English at the age of 50 and also loved the Bengali language.

A voracious reader, she would read books, and magazines and keep herself updated about the latest news and information.

Suryakantham would also donate for the sustenance of small papers, schools and charity organizations. She was a highly disciplined, devout, and god-fearing lady.

Suryakantham's rivalry with fellow actress Chaya Devi was only onscreen and she was known to be highly affectionate and loving towards everyone.

Her passion for cooking good food and bringing them to the sets was something that even the late NT Rama Rao would also look forward to.

She never liked crowds and was an introvert, contrary to her onscreen persona of being a loud and wicked woman.

Not many know that Suryakantham like her co-star Savithri could also drive a car and her favourite colour was blue.

She had become so famous as a cruel mother-in-law that people refrained from naming their girl child as Suryakantham.

A wicked or cruel mother-in-law is still referred to as someone like Suryakantham by those who know her!

Suryakantham’s role in Suman-Bhanupriya’s  film America Alludu where she plays the role of a grandmother who comes to the United States and sells savories in the streets. Her dialogue  dollar bajji, dollar bajji…one dollar,one dollar one bajji, is still remembered to date.

One can say Suryakantham never took a break and continued acting till her last breath. Though she reduced the number of films due to her health conditions, she continued to act in one film a year even till she passed away.

Her last film was the Chiranjeevi-Sridevi starrer SP Parasuram which was released in Jun 1994.

Six months after the release of SP Parasuram, Suryakantham passed away at the age of 70 on 18 December 1994.

Suryakantham continues to regale Telugu audiences even after her demise, thanks to television when the old classics are telecasted

(Few Inputs taken from Dr Jayanthi Puranapanda’s Vyus Article)

Also Read: Nandamuri Balakrishna's Veera Simha Reddy Shoot Begins