Film industry pays last respects to Veturi

THE life of one of the greatest Telugu lyricists has come to an end but his legacy will  remain for generations to come. The doyen of Telugu literature, Veturi Sundararama Murthy,  who mesmerised people for more than three and a half decades as a writer of film songs, has  orphaned not just the film fraternity but the entire Telugu world. A large number of politicians and film personalities paid their last respect to the stalwart  at his residence in Ameerpet on Sunday.

Almost the entire film industry turned up at his  residence.After paying his last respects actor Balakrishna recalled Veturi's contribution. ``This is a  loss not only to the film industry but also to the literary world. He was not only a great  lyricist but also lover of Telugu language. He fought with the government for classical  language status to Telugu,'' he recalled.

Chiranjeevi, Chandra Babu Naidu, Tanikella Bharani and Sekhar Kammula were among those who  had a last glimpse of the national award winner.

It may be noted that even a few months ago, he poured out that he was not allotted a house  in film nagar despite being a member of housing society. Actor Balachander urged the  government to correct its mistake by allotting house at least to his wife.

Allu Aravind, Jayasudha, Mohan Babu, Rama Naidu, Murali Mohan, Jamuna, Ramoji Rao,  Sirivennela Sitarama Sastry, Ashwini Dutt, Keeravani, Suddala Ashok Teja, Rana and Bandaru  Dattatreya also paid their last respects to the great lyricist.