Vankayala Satyanarayana

Vanakalya Satyanarayana was an Indian theatre artist and film actor. Satyanarayana was born in the year 1940 in Vishakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. He has acted as a character actor in more than 180 movies including Hindi, Telugu, and Tamil films. During his graduation days, he was a gold medallist in studies. He was also an all-rounder as he was exceptional at sports. He won the first position in L. Roberts International Shooting Competition and second spot at the international level. He secured a rewarding post in the company Hindustan Shipyard. He filled the job of a clerk initially at the company and later, he took retirement as the Company Secretary of the firm. Even though he had a lucrative job, he gave up his job and chose to pursue a career in the world of Cinema. He completed his study in theatre performance in the Andhra University. K. Venkateswara Rao, a renowned stage personality guided him in his program at the Andhra University.

He acted in plays and skits including Asura Sandhya, Triveni, Kodukuputtala, Otunna PrajalakuKoti Dandalu, Mnasunna Manishi, and Asaya Vardhate. He made his debut on the big screen of Telugu Cinema with the move Needaleni Aadadhi (1974). After that, he made appearances in various movies including Sagara Sangamam (A Telugu Dance Musical film directed by K. Vishwanath), Srinivasa Kalyanam Click to look into! >> Read More... , Subhalekha(A Telugu comedy-drama movie produced by Allu Aravind Allu Aravind is a film producer in Andhra Pradesh >> Read More... and V.V. Sastry) Some other movies in which he acted include Suthradarulu (A Classic Telugu feature film about a boy who fights for justice in his village), Donga Kollu (A Telugu comedy film), Ooriki Ichina Maata (A drama film in Telugu written by M. Balaiah, and Vijetha (A Telugu movie starring Chiranjeevi). Apart from this, he has acted in various TV serials and daily soaps. He rose to fame only after his famous role as a station master in the TV series Seethamaalakshmi.

The series got released in the year 1978. He received recognition from the audience as well as other artists from the famous role of the station master played by him. He was a well-known name in the Vizag Theatre circles as he remained active until his last days in performing plays and skits with the artists of Vishakhapatnam. In addition to this, he had close relationships with the Vijayawada theatre and its artists as well. In 2017, he received an honor during the Comedy Drama Festival held at the Samadhura Kala Niketan A few days before his death, he was preparing to perform at a play at the Nandi Drama Festival at Kakinanda. He suffered from respiratory issues and was undergoing treatment during his final days. He died in March 2018. He is survived through his wife and two sons. His brother, Vnakalaya Tataji is the chairman of Shri Kanakamahalakshmi Devasthanam and has been organizing programs to encourage and promote theatre artists from Vishakhapatnam. Satyanarayana’s last rites were performed at the Hindu Kailasa Bhoomi in Vizag.