Every artist will have his or her own inimitable style and their eventual loss can never be fulfilled in future by any. If anybody tries to act like them it will be a mere disaster. SV Ranga Rao, Gummadi, NTR, ANR, Nagaiah can never be replaced by any. They always retain their own place in the minds of the cine lovers. The same way in women artists Savithri, Kannamba and Suryakantham have unique place in the mental gallery of the film actresses.
Suryakantham who was born on October 28, 1924 in a village near Kakinada could get a turning point with the film Samsaram in 1950 directed by L.V.Prasad in which NTR and ANR acted as heroes and Suryakantham was given an anti role that gave her a recognition and image that she carried later in her entire career in the film industry.
Suryakantham played many roles of villainous nature in the families that created difficulties to the husbands, sisters in law, daughters in law and neighbors. Her role used to spoil the ambience in a house she lived and in the society. With her flow of dialogue delivery and action just apt to the role, she became a brand name for the problematic and cruel woman in a domestic life.
She was a tender hearted woman in her real life. Although she was looking for a lead role in the films and offered one from Hindi cinema industry, she refused to do it as the producer known to her wanted to remove the heroine already selected to accommodate Suryakantahm.
She acted in more than 90 films in Telugu in the anti role between 1946 and 1993. Her first movie was Narada Naradi and last one Govinda Govinda in 1993. She received many awards and titles. She was honored with Doctorate by Padmavathi Mahila University.
She died on December 18, 1994 but remained as an icon for cruel mother-in-law in the film industry and became a household name to be compared in real life when a problematic woman is addressed.
-SriJa
