The genius in Gnanpeeth-awardee C. Narayana Reddy made him pen slightly over 3,000 songs for Telugu films in a career that spanned five decades.
CiNaRe, as he is popular, was known for his use of Telugu in its pure form and not be swayed by filmmakers who insisted on colloquialism to be incorporated in the lyrics.
The last song he wrote was ‘Jejamma, Jejamma’ for Arundhati , a film that starred Anushka Shetty and was directed by Kodi Ramakrishna and produced by M. Shyamprasad Reddy. The film released on January 16, 2009.
For some time now, he was living in a joint family together with 27 members including his four daughters, sons-in-law and grandchildren. He named his daughters Ganga, Yamuna, Saraswati and Krishnaveni, indicating his strong feeling of being an Indian, apart from his liking for the Telugu language.
He studied till his graduation in Urdu because Telugu as a medium was not available during the Nizam’s rule. But because of his intense love for the language he taught himself Telugu and it was only during his degree that he took the option of Telugu as a paper.
It was the late N.T. Rama Rao, who wielded the megaphone for film Gulebakavali Katha , who gave CiNaRe his break as a lyricist in 1962. He wrote all the songs in the film, including the hit ‘Nannu dochukunduvate .. Vannela Dorasani.’
The lyricist worked with NTR, penning lyrics for Bandipotu and with Akkineni Nageswara Rao in Kulagothraalu , both of which are films that are remembered even today. Interestingly, he also wrote a number of what came to be known as Telugu ghazals, including one that goes, ‘Maranam nanu varinchi vasthe yemantaanu ...’ which became popular as it was in typical style. Other songs that are considered unforgettable till now by music and Telugu language lovers include ‘Ammanu minchi daivam unnada, Atmaku minchi sakshyam unnada ...’ in the film 20va Shatabhdam and another one that he wrote praising fathers that goes ‘O nanna nee manase venna, Amrutham kanna adi yentho minna...’ for the film Dharmadaata .
Among those who condoled his death were Rajya Sabha Member T. Subbirama Reddy and actor Pawan Kalyan, the Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce represented by president C. Kalyan and Honorary Secretaries K.L. Damodar Prasad and K.V.V. Prasad
