Koduri Siva Shakthi Datta (born Koduri Subba Rao; 8 October 1932), is an Indian

lyricist A lyricist is a songwriter who writes lyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to a composer, who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to the melody, harmony, arrangement and accompaniment. Royalties A lyricist's income de ...

, screenwriter, and painter who works in

Telugu cinema Telugu cinema, also known as Tollywood, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Telugu language, widely spoken in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Telugu cinema is based in Film Nagar, ...

. He is known for writing Sanskrit-based song lyrics in Telugu films. He is the elder brother of screenwriter V. Vijayendra Prasad, father of music director M. M. Keeravani and the uncle of director S. S. Rajamouli.

Early life

Siva Shakthi Datta was born as Koduri Subbarao on 8 October 1932. His family hails from Kovvur near

Rajahmundry Rajahmundry, officially known as Rajamahendravaram, is a city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and District headquarters of East Godavari district. It is the sixth most populated city in the state. During British rule, the District of Raj ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to t ...

. His father was Koduri Vijaya Apparao. Apparao was a landlord, a contractor and also ran a transport company in Kovvur with 12 buses. Apparao was fond of arts. His second son was Subbarao, who later changed his name to Baburao. Subbarao was a dropout from intermediate at C. R. Reddy College in

Eluru Eluru is a city and the district headquarters of Eluru district in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is one of the List of municipal corporations in India#Andhra Pradesh, 14 municipal corporations in ...

. Inclined towards arts from an early age, he ran away from his home and joined Sir J. J. School of Art in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...

. He graduated with a diploma two years later and returned to his native place Kovvur. He started using the

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

Kamalesh as a painter. Subbarao later changed his name to Siva Shakthi Datta. Datta was also interested in music and learned to play

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in medieval India, flourished in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form i ...

harmonium The pump organ is a type of free-reed organ that generates sound as air flows past a vibrating piece of thin metal in a frame. The piece of metal is called a reed. Specific types of pump organ include the reed organ, harmonium, and melodeon. T ...

Career

Datta's passion for films made him and Prasad to shift to

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Tamil Nadu, the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and territories of India, Indian state. The largest city ...

. He assisted a couple of directors for some time and started a film titled ''Pillanagrovi'' which was stopped midway due to financial reasons. Later Prasad got introduced to

K. Raghavendra Rao Kovelamudi Raghavendra Rao (born 23 May 1942) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and producer known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema besides having directed a few Hindi films. He has garnered four state Nandi Awards and five ...

through Samatha Arts’ Mukherjee who was a friend of his. Raghavendra Rao started giving Datta and Prasad small assignments. They got their first break with ''

Janaki Ramudu ''Janaki Ramudu'' is a 1988 Indian Telugu-language film directed by K. Raghavendra Rao and produced by K. Murari under Yuva Chitra Arts. The film stars Nagarjuna, Vijayashanti and Jeevitha, with music composed by K. V. Mahadevan. It was dubbed ...

'' (1988) which became successful at the box office. Later, Datta wrote lyrics for various songs in films like '' Sye'', ''Chatrapathi'', ''

Rajanna ''Rajanna'' is a 2011 Indian Telugu-language period action film written and directed by V. Vijayendra Prasad. The film is produced by Nagarjuna, and starred him, Sneha and child artist Baby Annie. The film is partially inspired by Razakar mov ...

, Baahubali: The Beginning, Baahubali 2: The Conclusion, RRR.''

Personal life

Datta is the father of music director M. M. Keeravani. Datta has six siblings an elder brother, an elder sister, and four younger brothers. His younger brother, the screenwriter V. Vijayendra Prasad credits him for his success. Datta is the uncle of director S. S. Rajamouli, and music composer M. M. Srilekha.

Awards

;

IIFA Utsavam The annual IIFA Utsavam rewards the artistic and technical achievements of the South Indian film industry. The ceremony is organised by Wizcraft International, the team behind the IIFA Awards, and represents Tamil cinema, Telugu cinema, Malayala ...

* Nominated for Best Lyricist - Telugu for "Mamathala Thalli" from '' Baahubali: The Beginning''.

Filmography

As screenwriter

* ''

'' (1988)

As lyricist

References

External links

* {{IMDb name, 7448570 * https://www.jiosaavn.com/artist/shiva-shakti-datta-songs/V8Ksuoz-zw4_ * https://nettv4u.com/celebrity/telugu/lyricist/shiva-shakti-datta 1932 births Telugu-language lyricists Indian lyricists Indian songwriters Telugu poets Poets from Andhra Pradesh Living people