Singanallur Venkataramana Iyer Sahasranamam (29 November 1913 – 19 February 1988), also known as S. V. S., was an Indian actor and director. Primarily a theatre actor, he also worked in over 200 films, mainly in

Tamil cinema Tamil cinema is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Tamil language, the main spoken language in the state of Tamil Nadu. It is nicknamed Kollywood, a portmanteau of the names Kodambakkam, a Ch ...

Early life

Sahasranamam was born on 29 November 1913 at Singanallur. He was the fourth child born to Venkatraman and Parvathi. Because of his interest in acting, he left his home at an early age to join the Madurai Sri Balashanmuganandha Sabha, a popular theatre group, which was later renamed T. K. S. Nataka Sabha.

Career

Several years after he joined T. K. S. Nataka Sabha, Sahasranamam started his own theatre group titled "Seva Stage". With that, he staged several popular plays such as ''Kangal'', ''Irulum Oliyum'' and ''Vadivelu Vaathiyar''. These plays were later adapted into feature films and were commercially successful. He also adapted the novels of writers such as B. S. Ramiah, T. Janakiraman and Ku Pa Rajagopalan, and made them into feature films. Although Sahasranamam was also successful in cinema, having acted in over 200 films since debuting in that field with ''

Menaka Menaka ( ) is a prominent figure in Hindu mythology, celebrated as one of the most beautiful apsaras (celestial nymphs) in the court of Indra, the king of the gods. She is frequently sent by the gods to disturb the penance of sages whose growin ...

'' (1935), he always considered theatre his main interest.

Awards

Sahasranamam won the

Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (IAST: Saṅgīta Nāṭaka Akādamī Puraskāra), also known as the Akademi Puraskar, is an award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama. It is the highest Indian recogni ...

for Acting (Tamil) in 1967, and received the Sangeetha Kalasikhamani award in 1980 by the Indian Fine Arts Society, Chennai.

Personal life

Sahasranamam's son S. V. S. Kumar is also an actor.

Illness and death

Between March 1974 and February 1988, Sahasranamam had suffered more than five heart attacks. He had chosen the artists for the play ''Nandha Vilakku'', authored by novelist/dramatist Krishnamani, and asked them to come for a rehearsal on 21 February. But he suffered a heart attack on 19 February 1988 and died at 4:30 pm IST.

Partial filmography

References

Bibliography

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sahasranamam, S. V. 1913 births 1988 deaths 20th-century Indian male actors Actors in Tamil theatre Indian male stage actors Male actors in Tamil cinema Actors from Coimbatore Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award