Dayana Sureshchandraji, former Principal of K.G.R.L.Degree College had no inkling in his mind that it would become the last meeting with M.S. Narayana, his one-time colleague and film comedian, when he visited Bhimavaram on a Sankranti vacation after taking a break from his hectic shooting schedules.
Mr. Chandraji recalled his association with Narayana as a colleague in the K.G.R.L. Degree College in Bhimavaram. “We all spent our time with the actor during his visit and enjoyed the fragrance of the wit in him even in real life too. After all, I was not prepared to digest the sad news of his demise within a few days after he returned from our town,” Mr. Chandraji said. The actor was said to have taken ill due to food poisoning while attending a party in a local club on January 19.
Although he left his native district in pursuit of greener pastures in the tinsel world a long ago, Naraayana preferred to maintain his contacts with his native village Nidamarru and Bhimavaram by visiting at least twice in a year. Amballa Venkateswara Rao, his childhood friend and former Mandal Parishad president, said Narayana ensured that his involvement in village development in every sphere was discernible with his liberal contributions.
Mr. Chandraji said he saw a creative writer in Narayana even during his teaching days which helped him build an illustrious career as a script-writer and comedian with more than 700 films to his credit in a span of two and half decades. While pursuing his Bachelor course in Sanskrit in Lal Bahadur Shastri Oriental College at Chinna Nindrakolanu in West Godavari district, Narayana came in contact with Parchuri Gopalakrishna, a lecturer in that college by that time who later became a prolific film dialogue writer. It was this association which inspired Narayana to take-up script-writing as his career initially.
Narayana popularised the typical accent of West Godavari through the films he essayed in different roles. The district has got a distinction in the film world by producing a galaxy of comedians such as Sunil, Saradhi, Bramhanandam and Iron Leg Sastry.
