'SURYAKANTHAM'…is a name, no Telugu parents dare to select for their girl child. The reason is obvious. The name is synonymous with a brawling and peevish lady. That is the power of Suryakantham. It shows how the lady made a big mark on Telugu people with her roles. But if you can look at the otherside of the coin, there is an interesting aspect in this matter. There is not even a slightest similarity between the Suryakantham, we see on the screen and the Suryakantham in the real life. Let us see the off-screen personality of Suryakantham.

Suryakantham was born in Kakinada. She was very mischievous in her childhood. Ramalakshmi, wife of famous Telugu writer Aarudra, Suryakantham are classmates and buddies. They both were notorious for their pranks.  Teasing the school teachers, cycling around the town etc. In the teenage, she was attracted to theatre. She used to act in dramas played by Youngmen's Happy Club in Kakinada. Then she was selected for movie roles by some producers. Her first film was Soudamini, in the year 1949. But her first break came in the year 1950 with the role in Samsaram. From then onwards, she became the first choice for gayyali lady roles. Mother-in-law, who harasses daughter-in-law, jealousy daughter-in-law, dominant wife of a hen-pecked husband etc. are the roles, she used to play. Whatever the character she played, in the end, she realized her follies and claps her cheeks. But there is 'chalk and cheese' like difference between her on screen image and real personality. She was a very good human being. She used to cook several type of tasty delicacies at home and bring them to the shooting spot and serve them for the fellow members of the unit. She was very good cook. She has very charitable nature also. Whenever any calamity occurred in Andhra Pradesh and cine artists started charity programme, Suryakantham donated big amounts of money.