People from all walks of life visited the homes of actors Anil Kumar and Raghav Uday, who drowned in the Thippagondanahalli reservoir while shooting the Kannada film ‘Mastigudi’ on Monday, to pay their last respects on Thursday.
Uday’s body, which was retrieved on Wednesday, was taken in a procession around 11 am on Thursday before being carried to the Hindu Rudra Bhoomi in Banashankari, south Bengaluru. His elder brother, Balaraj, performed the last rites. Uday was buried next to his uncle’s grave.
Kumar’s body was retrieved in the early hours of Thursday and brought to his house in Kadirenahalli, south Bengaluru, around 12.30 pm for people to pay their last respects.
He was buried in the Hindu Rudra Bhoomi, next to his father’s grave.
Kannada actors Puneeth Rajkumar, Darshan Thoogudeepa, ‘Thriller’ Manju and Sa Ra Govindu, politicians R Ashoka, Dinesh Gundu Rao and T A Saravana were among those who paid their last respects to the deceased actors.
Tejaswi, a childhood friend of the actors, said, “Anil and Uday used to be together always. Even in death, they held each other’s hand. Today, they are not there but their memories will stay with us.”
Actor Duniya Vijay befriended Verma as he regularly visited his small gym in Kadirenahalli.
Uday also got to know Vijay and became friends with him, Tejaswi said. Kumar’s friends kept their businesses in Kadirenahalli closed until his funeral got over, he added.
Meanwhile, a court in Ramanagaram released the director of ‘Mastigudi’, Sundar P Gowda, for four hours so that he could attend Uday’s funeral. Gowda was arrested by the Tavarekere police on Tuesday night for culpable homicide and is in judicial custody.