Director Surya Kiran today breathed his last in Chennai. The cause of his demise is yet to be divulged by his family.
Surya Kiran famously began his career as a child artist in the late 1970s. After acting in dozens of movies, he became passionate about wielding the megaphone.
A chance meeting with Akkineni Nagarjuna in 2002 helped him bag 'Satyam'. At that time, Nag wanted to produce a hit film with Sumanth as the male lead. Surya Kiran's story, Nag felt, was the right one because the male lead's character was deserving of sympathy in the story. The film, whose music was by Chakri, was a musical hit.
For the next seven years, Surya Kiran had a rough patch as a filmmaker. He burnt his fingers by producing a disastrous movie, which gobbled up his five cars and a residential property in Chennai. "That was a terribly bad phase. I used to have five cars to reach the airport. After that flop, I had to rely on my driver's bike for commute. It took a toll on my mental health. My then wife Kalyani (actress) was saddened by the developments. That's the reason she divorced me. I began a project which was shelved due to an accident. Those days were so cruel that I emerged No. 3 even though I was the only participant in a running race," Surya Kiran said in a poignant interview after his eviction from the Bigg Boss Telugu house in 2020.
In the interview, he added, "Anybody else in my position would have died by suicide. I am strong mentally. My debts are not yet cleared. My creditors trust me to give a box-office hit and clear those loans," he added. Unfortunately, Surya Kiran couldn't make a comeback.
Telugu Vox condoles the demise of Surya Kiran. May his soul rest in peace!
