CM condoles ANR's demise, describes him as a legend

Chief Minister N.Kiran Kumar Reddy expressed grief and deep sorrow over the demise of legendary Telugu actor Padma Vibhushan Dr. Akkineni Nageswara Rao, in the early hours of today.

The Chief Minister recalled yeoman services of Dr. Akkineni in the cine and drama fields since his younger days. He said Anr as he was popularly known strode the Telugu film scene like a colossus and created a history by remaining in the field for almost 75 years.

Kiran Kumar Reddy said that with the demise of Akkineni, the Indian Cinema, particularly the Telugu film industry has lost a great legend. He said it is very difficult to fill the void created by the demise of Dr.Akkineni. He extended his heartfelt condolences to Akkineni Nagarjuna and other bereaved family members.

The Chief Minister said Saheb Phalke Award winner Anr was an ever green hero of Telugu films and he created many a records with his hit films. He said the doyen of Telugu film industry, Anr was the main reason for bringing the Telugu film industry from Chennai to Hyderabad as he was the first to establish a full-fledged sprawling cine studio, the Annapurna Studios decades back in Hyderabad. He said majority of Anr's films were great successes and his films attracted the family audience in a big way.

Kiran Kumar Reddy also described Anr as a great human being and a role model for youngsters in the film industry since he was a great disciplinarian. He said Dr. Akkineni was known for his strong will power and positive attitude in life. He said Anr proved his mettle as a stage artiste and made his film debut in early 1940s with ‘Dharmapatni’, in which he acted as a woman. He went on to give huge hits such as 'Premabhishekam', ‘Batasari’, ‘Devadas’ and ‘Prem Nagar’, ‘Tenali Ramakrishna’, ‘Maya Bazaar’, ‘Missamma’ and ‘Sitaramayya gari Manavaralu’. He earned fame for his poignant portrayal of ‘Devdas’ in the film based on the novel of acclaimed Bengali author Sarat Chandra Chatterjee.