Nandamuri Balakrishna Reacts to Outrage Over His Comments On Akkineni Nageswara Rao

Nandamuri Balakrishna and Akkineni controversy over the word ‘Thokkineni’ that was used by the Telegu actor in connection with the legendary names like Akkineni Nageswara Rao and SV Ranga Rao has gathered steam. Amid the outrage and demands by the fans for a formal apology, the Veera Simha Reddy actor has reacted to the incident by clarifying that his words were taken out of context.

While interacting with the media, the veteran actor expressed that Akkineni Nageswara Rao has always been fond of him and loves him to the core. Balakrishna explained, “Babai (ANR) loved me more than his own kids. He was always more affectionate towards me and I have huge respect towards him and my words have been taken out of context.”

Nandamuri Balakrishna had sparked an outrage when he was attending the success meet event of his film Veera Simha Reddy where he had spoken about the late legendary actor Akkineni Nageswara Rao. He had said, as translated by Hindustan Times, “My father Sr NTR (Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao) had some contemporaries, aa Ranga Rao (referring to SV Ranga Rao), Akkineni, Thokkineni, and some others”. Many social media users did not like the use of the word ‘Thokkineni’ while he was referring to Akkineni Nageswara. Following this controversy, the Akkineni family had issued statements coming from both Naga Chaitanya and Akhil Akkineni respectively.

Naga Chaitanya had penned his statement, “Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao garu, Akkineni Nageswara Rao garu and S.V Ranga Rao garu’s creative contributions have been the pride and pillars of Telugu Cinema. Disrespecting them is degrading ourselves.” Akhil Akkineni, too, had taken to his social media handle to share the same sentiments.

For the uninitiated, Nagarjuna and Balakrishna have been speculated to share a not-so-amicable relationship. In the public eyes, the two of them have hardly worked together or attended a public event in each other’s presence. While Nagarjuna had clarified five years ago that there is no bad blood with Nandamuri Balakrishna, the latter statements however has come as a shock for the Telegu film fraternity as well as the die-hard fans of Akkineni Nageswara Rao.