Tollywood legend ANR is no more

Legendary Telugu actor (“Nata Samrat”) and Dada Saheb Phalke awardee Akkineni Nageswara Rao, popularly known as ANR, passed away here around 2:45 am on Wednesday. The 91-year-old actor was suffering from intestinal cancer.

In October last year, he had called a press conference to announce that he was diagnosed with cancer but he refused to answer any questions, saying he didn’t want any sympathy.

ANR was shooting for “Manam” with his son Nagarjuna and grandson Naga Chaitanya. Family sources said he complained of breathlessness around 1:30 am and was rushed to Care Hospital at Banjara Hills where he was attended by eminent cardiologist Dr Somaraju and declared dead. His daughter Nagasuseela and grandson Susant were at his side when he breathed his last. The actor is survived by three daughters and two sons.

“My father was recovering well from a surgery that he had undergone recently at KIMS and was undergoing chemotherapy. He was absolutely fine on Tuesday evening and spent time with all our family members,” Nagarjuna told reporters. Nageswara’s body was shifted to Annapurna Studios to help film industry members and fans could pay their last respects.

He will be cremated on Thursday with state honours, said minister D K Aruna. Entire film fraternity and his fans across the state are mourning his death. Movie Artistes Association has announced a bandh for all shooting-related activities on Thursday and urged theatres in the state to shut down.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, Opposition leader N Chandrababu Naidu, Y S R Congress president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy and several other leaders and film personalities condoled his death. The Andhra Pradesh Assembly, which is in session discussing Telangana bill, took a break and expressed condolences and passed an unanimous resolution.