Lyricist Vennelakanti, who wrote 2k songs, passes away

Hyderabad: Acclaimed Telugu film lyricist and dialogue writer Vennelakanti Rajeswara Prasad passed away in Chennai on Tuesday. Popular as ‘Vennelakanti’, the lyricist wrote as many as 2,000 songs.
The Telugu film industry mourned the passing away of the 63-year-old, who suffered a heart attack and died at his home in Chennai. Hailing from Nellore in AP, Vennelakanti, who was introduced to the film world in 1986 with the film ‘Sri Rama Chandrudu’ directed by Bhaskar Rao, went on to pen lyrics for several hit films.
Writer Paruchuri Gopalakrishna said he was shocked at the passing away of Vennekanti, whom he considered elder brother.He expressed his condolences to the bereaved family. “We have lost a gem of a writer,” said lyricist Raj Kandukuri, describing Vennelakanti as one of the finest lyricists of Telugu cinema. He also wrote lyrics for Tamil films apart from being a scriptwriter and dubbing artiste.
A bank employee, Vennelakanti forayed into films as his father ‘Pratibha’ Koteshwara Rao was also associated with the film industry. Vennelakanti’s two sons are also lyricists. Some of his songs include ‘Maatarani Mounamidi’ from the film ‘Maharshi’, ‘China damme’ in ‘Simhadri’, ‘Hrudayam Ekkadunnadhi’ from ‘Ghajini’, and ‘Konda Konallo’ from ‘Swati Kiranam’. The final rites of Vennelakanti will take place in Chennai on Wednesday.