J. V. Somayajulu

J. V. Somayajulu Biography

J. V. Somayajulu was a veteran film and theater artist best known for the portrayal of Sankar Sastry in the Telugu classic movie Shankarabharanam. His outstanding performance also earned him Filmfare Best Actor Award (Telugu). He was an IAS officer, who Directorate of Cultural Affairs. After retirement he joined movies. Television serial Kanyasulkam was one of his last performances. He died of illness in 2004 aged 76. He has also appeared in a few Malayalam, Tamil and Hindi movies. Hindi movie, Bhagmati (2005) was his last released movie. He spent 5 decades in the field of entertainment.

He was born in Lukalam Agraharam, Srikakulam of Andhra Pradesh on 30 June 1928. His full name is Jonnalagadda Venkata Somayajulu. He spent his childhood in Vizianagaram and was associated with plays. Noted theater artist J. V. Ramana Murthy is his younger brother. The siblings together acted in many plays and one of their popular plays was Kanyasulkam, which was staged for more than 500 times. After winning the administrative service, J. V. Somayajulu served as an IAS officer till his retirement. After retirement he got associated with his real passion once again.

Jyoti in 1976 was his first release, followed by the milestone and path-breaking movie of Telugu cinema, Shankarabharanam in 1980. He portrayed the lead role of Shankara Sastry in the movie listed among CNN-IBN's list of hundred greatest Indian films of all time. Somayajulu became a household name with this movie directed by renowned filmmaker, K. Viswanath. He essayed the role of a Carnatic guru battling the influence of Western music on Indian music and the movie was dubbed to several Indian languages. `Vamsa Vriksham', `Saptapadi', `Swathi Muthyam', `Thyagayya' and `Vijeta' are other popular roles he played onscreen.

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Updated: June 26, 2014