A void that can never be filled, Jayalalith​aa on ANR

Describing Akkineni Nageswara Rao as one of the greatest film actors of the country, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Wednesday said Rao's death had left a void that can never be filled.

In her condolence message, Ms Jayalalithaa recalled that she had worked with him in many movies. “In fact, my first film in Telugu “Manushulu Mamathalu” was with Shri Nageswara Rao. He was always the soul of courtesy and pleasant to work with.” His demise was an irreparable loss to the film industry and the nation.

The legendary Telugu actor, Ms Jayalailthaa said, showed keen interest in acting in stage shows right from his young age and stepped into the film world through the movie

“Dharmapathini” . He starred in a famous Tamil/Telugu movie

“Devadas” in which he made an indelible mark in acting which took him to ultimate glory.

Mr Rao acted in more than 250 films in Tamil and Telugu which included

“Or Iravu” “Poongothai”, “Allauddinnum Arputha Vilakkum”, “Madharkula Manikkam”, “Kalyanaparisu”, “Premabhishekham”, “Mooga Manasulu”, “Maayaa Bazaar.” He rode the Telugu film industry like a colossus between 1950 and 1970. The credit of acting in a dual role for the first time in a Telugu film “Iddaru Mithrulu” went to Mr Rao, the Chief Minister said.