J. V. Somayajulu

J. V. Somayajulu
J. V. Somayajulu
Born	Jonnalagadda Venkata Somayajulu; 30 July 1920 or c. 1928; Srikakulam district, Madras Presidency, British India
Died	24 April 2004; Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India
Occupation	Actor
Notable work	Sankara Sastry in Sankarabharanam, Tyagaraja in Tyagayya
Relatives	J. V. Ramana Murthy (brother)

Jonnalagadda Venkata Somayajulu (30 July 1920^[1] or c. 1928^[2]^[3] – 24 April 2004) was an Indian actor known for his works in Telugu cinema and a few Tamil, Kannada, Hindi and Malayalam films.^[4] In 1981, he received the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu for his work in the classic Sankarabharanam. On the centenary of Indian cinema, Forbes included his performance in the film among the 25 Greatest Acting Performances of Indian Cinema.^[5]

Some of the other films that earned Somayajulu a good reputation as an actor were Allari Pillalu, Nelavanka, Rowdy Alludu, Swathi Muthyam, Tyagayya, Saptapadi, Vijeta, Appula Appa Rao, Vamsa Vruksham and the Hindi film Jaag Utha Insan. He portrayed the guru character of Sri Raghavendra in the Tamil film Sri Raghavendrar.^[6] He made a 13-episode television serial based on the play Kanyasulkam.^[2] He also portrayed A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, in the biographical series Abhay Charan.

Personal life and career

Jonnalagadda Venkata Somayajulu was born in Lukalam Agraharam in Srikakulam district of present-day Andhra Pradesh.^[1] His father worked as an Inspector in the Prohibition and Excise department in Gudivada and other towns. He spent his childhood in Vizianagaram and also participated in stage dramas there. He was a government official and worked as a Deputy collector for Mahabub Nagar district.^[1]^[2]

His career spanned five decades in stage dramas, films and television. His passion for Gurazada Apparao's play, Kanyasulkam, was such that he, along with his actor brother J V Ramana Murthy, played it about 500 times in 45 years. His exposition of the delightfully notorious character, "Ramappanthulu" in the play, has become legendary. The woman behind the success of Somayajulu was his mother Saradamma. Somayajulu had two sons and a daughter.^[2]

Other works

For the development of Telugu theatre in the twin cities Hyderabad and Secunderabad, Somayajulu established 'Rasaranjani' along with his contemporaries, Chatla Sriramulu, Garimella Rama Murthy and Rallapalli.^[2] Somayajulu worked in the Directorate of Cultural Affairs before retiring from government service.

Death

Somayajulu died of heart attack in Hyderabad in 2004 at a reported age of 76.^[2]^[3]

Filmography

List of films and roles
Year	Title	Role(s)	Notes
1976	Jyoti
1980	Sankarabharanam	Shankara Sastry	Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu
1980	Vamsa Vruksham
1981	Tyagayya	Tyagayya
1981	Saptapadi	Yajulu
1982	Pelleedu Pillalu	P V Rao
1983	Nelavanka	Raheem
1983	Sitaara
1985	Devalayam
	Aalapaana
	Vijetha	Narasimham
1986	Tandra Paparayudu
	Sri Shirdi Saibaba Mahathyam	Nana Chandorkar
	Kalyana Tambulam
	Naa Pilupe Prabhanjanam^[7]	Janakiramaiah
	Ugra Narasimham
	Swathi Muthyam
	Magadheerudu
	Kaliyuga Pandavulu
1987	Madana Gopaludu
	Sankeertana
	Majnu
	Chakravarthy	Swamiji
	Swayam Krushi
	Viswanatha Nayakudu
1988	Abhinandana
1988	Raktabhishekam
1991	Aditya 369	Mahamantri Thimmarusu
1991	Rowdy Alludu
1992	Appula Appa Rao	Sankara Sastri
1992	Allari Mogudu
1993	Mutha Mestri	MLA Raghavayya
1993	Govinda Govinda	TTD Chief Priest
1989	Swara Kalpana
1990	Jayasimha^[8]	Mukunda Rao, DFO
1994	Sarigamalu
2003	Kabirdas

Tamil films

List of Tamil films and roles
Year	Title	Role(s)
1984	Neengal Kettavai	Music teacher
1985	Sri Raghavendrar	Saint Sudheendra
1985	Yaar?	Swamiji
1988	Idhu Namma Aalu	Srinivasa Sastry
1989	Thiruppu Munai	Sathyamoorthy
1990	Pagalil Pournami	Monk
1997	Mannava	Astrologer

Kannada films

List of Kannada films and roles
Year	Title	Role(s)
1983	Gandharvagiri	Narasimha Joshi
1988	Sri Venkateshwara Mahime
1995	Mutthinantha Hendathi
2003	Raktha Kanneeru	Chandhra's father
2003	Ondagona Baa	Raghavayya (Ajja)