Telugu Lyricist Kandikonda Yadagiri Passes Away

Renowned Telugu film lyricist Kandikonda Yadagiri passed away on Saturday (March 12) at his residence in Hyderabad's Vengal Rao Nagar. He was 49. Reportedly, he was battling cancer for the past two years and was admitted to a private hospital for treatment. A few reports also mention that the lyricist recently recovered and was shifted to his residence. The tumour had reportedly affected his spinal cord following which his condition worsened on Saturday. The news of his untimely demise was shared by Telugu Cine Writers Association president DR Paruchuri Gopalakrishna.

On learning about Kandikonda's death, several celebrities from the industry took to social media to express their condolences.

Born in Warangal, Kandikonda started off his career by writing lyrics for spiritual albums. Later, he forayed into films and had made his debut with the 2001 film Itlu Sravani Subramanyam. He wrote lyrics for as many as 100 films that include Amma Nanna O Tamila Ammayi (2003), Satyam (2003), Donga Dongadi (2004), Pokiri (2006), Ranam (2006), Takkari (2007), Bujjigadu (2008), Saradaga Kasepu (2010), and Temper (2016) among others. His last project was Kothala Rayudu (2022).

A few songs penned by the lyricist are 'Dum Dum Dum', 'One More Time', 'Okkasari', 'Em Smile Raa', 'Gala Gala Paruthunna', 'Madhurame Madhurame', to name a few. His collaborations with renowned music composers like AR Rahman, Yuvan Shankar Raja, Harris Jayaraj, Mani Sharma and several others were highly praised by music aficionados.

For his excellence in the field of music and study of situational songs in Telugu cinema, he was awarded a Doctorate by Hyderabad's Osmania University.