Legendary Telugu actor Akkineni Nageswara Rao passes away

Legendary Telugu actor Akkineni Nageswara Rao passed away at a private hospital in Hyderabad at 2.12 am on Wednesday after battling cancer for several months. He was 91 and is survived by three daughters and two sons, one of whom is actor Nagarjuna. He had in October last year told media that he was diagnosed with cancer and that he would fight it till the end.

Akkineni Nageswara Rao had a lively chat with family members last night and died in his sleep, the legendary actor’s son Nagarjuna said. He was rushed to the super-speciality Care Hospitals at Banjara Hills, where the doctors declared him dead.

Soon as news of his demise spread, there was a steady stream of people from the Telugu film industry and other fields of society, to his house in Jubilee Hills. His body is being shifted to Annapurna Studios, where it will be kept for people to pay their last respects.

Born on September 20, 1923 in Venkata Raghavapuram of Krishna district, this first generation actor in Telugu debuted with Dharmapatni in 1941. There was no looking back and he went on to showcase his skills as an actor par excellence in 256 films, including Devadasu, Laila Majnu, Anarkali, Premabhishekham, Prema Nagar and Megha Sandesham to name a few.

Among the awards he has received in recognition of his work are Padma Vibhushan, Dada Saheb Phalke Award, the Raghupathi Venkaiah Award and the NTR National Award too. His death marks the end of another glorious, unforgettable chapter in Telugu cinema, an industry that makes the second largest number of films, next only to Bollywood.



ANR recently completed shooting for his home production ‘Manam’ which casts three generations of the family — himself, Nagarjuna and his grandson Naga Chaitanya. In fact, dubbing facilities had been set up at his residence as he wanted to do it himself, family sources said.