Akkineni Nageswara Rao passes away

Legendary Telugu actor Akkineni Nageswara Rao breathed his last in Hyderabad this morning (22^nd January 2014). He was 91. He was the recipient of the prestigious Dada Saheb Phalke Award and also the winner of Padmashri, Padma Vibushan and several Filmfare awards.

Born in 1923, Nageswara Rao started his career at the age of 17 in the Telugu film Dharmapatni and went on to act in more than 250 films and was seen in Tamil films like Manjal Mahimai, Adhisaya Penn, Vaazhkai Thunai to name a few. In 2011, he was seen in Rama Rajyam directed by Bapu along with Balakrishna and Nayanthara. Manam is an upcoming film in which three generations of Akkinenis - Nageswara Rao, his son Nagarjuna and grandson Naga Chaitanya were working together and the film was recently wrapped up.

Having battled cancer for a while, Nageswara Rao is survived by three daughters and two sons, one of whom is actor Nagarjuna. Behindwoods prays for the departed soul to rest in peace and prays to the Almighty to give strength to the bereaved family at this hour of grief.