A pall of gloom descended on the Telugu film industry as Thespian Akkineni Nageshwara Rao breathed his last after ruling the silver screen for the last seven and a half decades.
The legendary actor Nageshwara Rao, who started his film career with Dharampatni in 1941, breathed his last at around 2 am at the Apollo Hospital in Hyderabad where he was undergoing treatment for cancer. Father of another popular actor Nagarjuna and grandfather of young screen hero Naga Chaitanya, Akkineni Nageshwara Rao was one of the two all time great actors to rule Telugu screen along with NT Rama Rao, the demigod of the the movies.
Mourners, which included Who’s Who of the cross sections of society including film personalities and politicians, celebrities and businessmen and sport persons, lined up at the Annapooran Studios in the city where Akkineni’s body was kept.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Senior BJP leader Narendra Modi, Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, Union Minister for Tourism K Chiranjivi, Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu, YSRCP president YS Jaganmohan Reddy were among those who condoled the death of the “Nata Samrath”.
Many top Bollywood personalities including Amitabh Bachchan and his son Abhishek and Anupam Kher also condoled the death of Nageshwara Rao. State’s Minister for information DK Aruna announced that the funeral of the actor will take place with full police honours. Movie Artists Association president Murli Mohan announced that the Telugu film industry will observe a shutdown as a mark of respect for Akkineni Nageshwara Rao on Thursday. The cinema halls across the State will also be closed.
like his great contemporary NT Rama Rao, Nageshwara Rao also came from Krishna district. Though he could go to study in a school only up to third standard, Nageshwara Rao was a self-made man who polished his language and personality surpassing even the best educated. The story goes that he felt so bad with his inability to speak in English that he hired best teachers to learn the language like the British.
92 Nageshwara Rao, who acted in 255 films in his acting career spanning over almost eight decades, will be remembered for his role in Devadasu, the alcoholic lover which was later recited by many other actors in many other languages but critics say Nageshwara Rao’s portrayal was the best. While his other great contemporary NTR was revered as a demogod by the film-goers as he played numerous mythological characters like Rama and Krishna, Nageshwara Rao mostly played the role of the common man and a romantic hero.
Recipient of many awards including Padma Vibhushan and Dada Sahab Phalke award, Nageshwara Rao was acting in a new movie Manam with his son Nagarjuna and grand son Naga Chaitanya when the end came. “Yesterday also he was well. He was recovering after surgery but suddenly his condition deteriorated and he passed away,” said Nagarjuna amidst sobs.