Hyderabad: Sudden changes started appearing in veteran actor Ranganath’s life in the last few weeks before his death. He ended his former routine and sat inside his apartment at Gandhinagar. He also started praying more and applying vibhuti on his forehead.
In his last conversations with his family and friends including a regional language journalist he hinted about his distress and suicidal tendencies.
A silent witness to the actor’s decline was his domestic servant, 48-year-old P. Minakshi, to whom he gave his bank deposits. Minakshi joined Ranganath's family when his wife was extremely ill six years ago and has been serving his family and his daughter’s family ever since.
Minakshi saw some sudden changes in the actor’s life in the last one month. “He used to play tennis regularly. But, since a month he used to skip that stating that he had pain in his arms and hip. He also delayed or skipped meals,” said Minakshi.
The actor used to live alone in his rented apartment as his son and a daughter lived in Bengaluru. His second daughter lives in the same colony, in another house. Whenever he was seen extremely disturbed, Minakshi used to inquire what the problem was. “He used to tell that he was disturbed about the bad news he saw on TV,” said Minakshi.
Ranganath's son T. Nagendra Kumar, 45, who is an IT professional, moved out of the city with his family two years ago. He wanted to take his father to Bengaluru, where he lives with his family. “I had asked him to live with us. But, he refused to come. I talked to him on the phone a month ago,” said Nagendra Kumar, adding that he had noticed his father’s depression.
The actor had also rejected many roles in recent months. “He rejected many roles stating that he was not interested in acting in such roles. He was also avoiding all events,” a relative said. The actor’s children have decided to fulfill his last wish, that is what he wrote on the wall, by giving away his savings to his maid. “She has been working with us for six years. So we will give his savings to her,” said Nagendra Kumar.
Actor kept low profile after his wife’s death
The one-BHK ground floor apartment located in a residential area in Gandhinagar does not look like the house of a prominent actor. The yellow Nano car parked outside also is not the usual choice for a famous face of Tollywood.
In direct contrast to film celebrities Ranga-nath kept a low profile after his wife’s death. People living in the colony were unaware of his presence.
On Sunday morning, a day after his death, people from the colony visited his apartment. “Since there is no luxury here we never knew this great actor lived here,” said J. Prasanna, who lives in the colony.
Ranganath did not have a driver. "He used to drive himself and go to shooting spots. He also did shopping himself,” said G. Pavan Kumar, the watchman’s son.
Of late, the watchman’s family had seen the disturbed actor pace back and forth at nights. “I often saw him walking outside after dinner. His strides were abnormal,” said Pavan Kumar, who used to accompany him to film sets earlier.
Ranganath did not have any visitors and was polite to neighbours. The actor, who earlier was living with his children in another house, shifted to the small apartment a year ago. He was paying only Rs 5,000 as rent.
The awards he won were seen arranged in the hall, while portraits of his film characters were seen on the walls. Apart from a shelf filled with books and a TV there were five tennis racquets and some clothes in the house. The furniture was not upmarket, but clean.
Download the all new Deccan Chronicle app for Android and iOS to stay up-to-date with latest headlines and news stories in politics, entertainment, sports, technology, business and much more from India and around the world.
