Writer Yaddanapudi Sulochana Rani dies aged 78

She heralded a new era in Telugu fiction and several books were adapted into films

Yaddanapudi Sulochana Rani

Veteran writer, novelist Yaddanapudi Sulochana Rani, who along with her women counterparts Arikepudi Kousalya Devi and Ranganayakamma, heralded a new era in Telugu fictional literature since the 1950s, passed away at California on Monday.

The writer, who hailed from Kaza village of Krishna district, was 78.

While it was Kousalya Devi who ushered in the trend of film adaptations of Telugu novels with Doctor Chakravarthy, it was Sulochana's writings that captured the fascination of an average reader since the '60s reflecting contemporary trends, relationships with her signature nostalgic style.

It was thanks to her writings that readers awaited her novel chapters across various Telugu magazines.

Films were one of the reasons that catapulted her readership to greater heights, as actors such as Sobhan Babu, Murali Mohan, Akkineni Nageswara Rao often fit the bill to portray her male protagonists.

While her novels were adapted into films till late '70s, it was Yandamuri Veerendranath who took over the book-film adaptation baton from her in the '80s. Her last notable contribution for films has been Trivikram's

A..Aa , inspired by her novel

Meena , also a film directed by actress Vijay Nirmala in the '70s. Some of Sulochana's famous novels include

Murali Krishna ,

Radha Krishna ,

Jeevana Tarangalu ,

Premalekhalu ,

Secretary ,

Aathmeeyulu to name a few. She'd distanced herself from active literature since a couple of decades.