Hyderabad: The last rites of Telugu film legend Akkineni Nageswara Rao took place at Annapurna Studios at around 3.30 pm on Thursday with full state honours.
ANR’s sons Venkat and Nagarjuna, along with grandsons Sumanth, Naga Chaitanya, Sushanth and Akhil, lit the pyre.
Before the funeral, the actor’s body was kept at the Andhra Pradesh Film Chamber for 45 minutes. At around 1.30 pm, the funeral cortege left from the Film Chamber towards Annapurna Studios, where the final rites were performed.
Hundreds of ANR fans and many film personalities accompanied the funeral cortege. Thousands of people, including film personalities and politicians thronged the studio to pay their final respects and to get a last glimpse of the legendary actor.
Actor Nagarjuna and his nephew Sumanth during the cremation of Akkineni Nageswara Rao at Annapurna Studios on Thursday.
Nagarjuna, Naga Chaitanya, Sushanth, Sumanth and other family members carried ANR’s body to the pyre even as Nagarjuna broke down, unable to control his emotions. Shooting was suspended on Thursday in Tollywood and the entire industry gathered at Annapurna Studios.
Film personalities like D. Ramanaidu, Chiranjeevi, Krishnam Raju, Venkatesh, Jayasudha, Dasari Narayana Rao, Jr NTR, Kalyan Ram, T. Subbi Rami Reddy, K. Raghavendra Rao, Ramesh Prasad, Murali Mohan, K.L. Narayana, Rajasekhar, Srikanth, Sridevi, Tabu, Marri Sashidhar Reddy, Danam Nagendar, Kasu Krishna Reddy and others attended the funeral.
Despite the on-going Assembly Session, ANR’s final journey received top priority in the media and many television channels broadcast the funeral live.
