Lyricist Sirivennela Seetharama Sastry on winning Padma Shri Award: Audience support was most gratifying

Sirivennela Seetharama Sastry, acclaimed lyricist, has been one of the most influential figures for over three decades in Telugu cinema. He’s so popular in the film fraternity that having a song, written by him, is often seen as a mark of privilege.

So, when he was conferred with the Padma Shri Award by the Government of India, few days ago, it was seen as an act of honouring Telugu language and its beauty itself. “Don’t ask me how I felt after winning the award,” Sirivennela Seetharama Sastry quipped as he sat down for a rare conversation about his work so far. “Of course, I’m happy. But the most gratifying part was the overwhelming support from the audience who felt that I deserve this honour.”

Prior to his debut as a lyricist in Telugu films, he was writing poetry for nearly 15 years under the pen name of ‘Bharani’. However, when he worked with veteran filmmaker K Vishwanath for Sirivennela, the filmmaker convinced him to use his real name, Seetharama Sastry, and added the film’s name as a prefix. And there was no looking back for him ever since.

Talking about his work and longevity of his songs, Seetharama Sastry says, “When people listen to my songs, I want them to feel that the song is about the same emotions that they are going through or have felt at some point. I’m the echo of your silence. That’s what gives life to my work. Sometimes, we find it hard to express our emotions through words. And that’s exactly where songs or poetry come to your rescue. You can express a lot through just a few words. That’s the beauty of Telugu language too because it gives you the scope to say a lot of profound things with few words.”

Contrary to the order of the day, when it comes to songs, Seetharama Sastry laid down few simple rules that made a whole lot of difference. “Right from the beginning, I requested the producers and music directors to never ask me to write about events, places, or people. At times, this becomes a problem when I write songs for a hero’s introduction, but I’ve never tried to glorify any person through my songs. I’m also very particular about not instigating the youth or degrading women in my songs. I’ve always preferred to write about universal emotions, like love, anger, devotion, among other things. I don’t think the kind of words I use in the songs are so hard that people won’t understand it. Since I’m well versed with books, mythology, Bhagavad Gita and other philosophical works, it’s easy for me to find the right context to express my views through the songs I’ve written,” he adds.

Few years ago, while talking about Seetharama Sastry’s work, filmmaker Trivikram Srinivas said that he finds words even when there’s no space for their existence. Recalling Trivikram’s words, the lyricist avers, “As a writer, it’s your duty to create that space for yourself. No one is going to teach you. If it was easy, anyone would have done it. Your voice has to be unique and stand the test of time. That will only happen when you start looking at work as something that you must do for your own sake and to improve your understanding of the world, and not just write for that film alone.”

Ask him if he has limited his potential by sticking to just Telugu films, he says, “There was a time when people had a condescending view about you if you wrote for cinema. But I sincerely believe that theatre and cinema are the key mediums to bring great literature to a wider audiences. I’ve always worshipped cinema and consider it as my temple.”