Chennai: Director Bapu aka Sattiraju Lakshmi Narayana, who introduced actor A.V. Subrahmanyam into Telugu films, says the late actor`s biggest strength was making people laugh effortlessly.
Subrahmanyam, who died Friday due to liver-related problems, made his cinematic debut with Subrahmanyam`s Telugu family drama `Mr. Pellam`.
"Writer Indraganti Srikanth Sarma introduced Subrahmanyam to me. He was doing a comedy show on Doordarshan at that time and was also working as a journalist. I still remember him for his ability to make people laugh effortlessly and that was his strength," Bapu said.
In `Mr. Pellam`, Subrahmanyam played a manager with a lisp.
"He was extremely talented and had a great knack for mimicry and it didn`t take me much time to like him. His early death is industyr`s loss," said the director.
`Mr. Pellam` was Subrahmanyam`s first Telugu release, but he had donned the greasepaint for the first time for Telugu historical film `Srinadha Kavi Sarvabhowma`, which was also directed by Bapu.
"He was first cast for my film `Srinadha Kavi Sarvabhowma` alongside NTR (Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao), but it released few years later. Meanwhile, I roped him in for my next film `Mr. Pellam`."
"He even won a Nandi Award for his role in that film. I`m sure thousands of movie would remember his catchphrase from the film," said Bapu.
In a career of over two decades, Subrahmanyam starred in nearly 400 films. Some of his best films include `Yamaleela", `Sisindri`, `Intlo Illalu Vantaintlo Priyuralu` and `Venky`.
He had also directed four movies namely `Super Heroes`, `Ori Ni Prema Bangaaram Kaanu`, `Room Mates` and `Kothimooka`.