First Telugu news reader Shanti Swaroop breathed his last in Hyderabad on Friday.
Shanti Swaroop is a household name for Telugu people who grew up watching Doordarshan, the country’s first and official TV channel. He suffered a heart attack two days ago and passed away while undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Hyderabad.
Shanti Swaroop was the pioneer in Telugu TV news anchoring and was the face of Doordarshan in the 1980s and 90s. At a time when DD was the sole TV broadcaster, Shanti Swaroop struck a chord with the Telugu people through his news reading skills. Being a qualified and trained news reader, Shanti Swaroop reflected a soft yet assertive tone with a settled and pleasant reading style. He was the quintessential traditional newsreader who was looked up to by new-age anchors and news readers.
Though Doordarshan and Shanti Swaroop took a backseat after the influx of private news and entertainment TV channels, his name and reading style are etched in Telugu people’s memories.
Shanti Swaroop won Telugu people’s hearts as a news reader and wrote novels. He is survived by his wife, Roja Ramani, who is also a news reader, and two sons.
