Tearful farewell to towering star

PNS | HYDERABAD

The funeral of veteran Telugu film star Krishna was conducted with state honours here on Wednesday after several prominent personalities and a large number of fans paid their last respects.

Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, renowned Telugu actor N Balakrishna, BJP president in Telangana Bandi Sanjay Kumar were among those who paid homage to Krishna.

Scores of fans queued up to have a one last glimpse of their favourite actor and some of them were in tears as they arrived to pay their tributes.The mortal remains were then taken to the ‘Mahaprasthanam’ crematorium at Jubilee Hills where the funeral was held. Krishna’s son Mahesh Babu is a leading actor in the Telugu film industry.

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Tuesday had directed officials to conduct the last rites with state honours.Krishna, known for introducing the first cinemascope film, first cowboy genre and also the first 70-mm movie in Telugu cinema during his five decade-long career, passed away on Tuesday at a city-based hospital where he was undergoing treatment following a cardiac arrest. He was 80. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, several chief ministers and other prominent leaders, besides a host of film personalities condoled the death of Krishna, whose full name was Ghattamaneni Sivarama Krishna.