Dad was fine Tuesday, says Nagarjuna

Akkineni Nagarjuna, son of late Telugu cinema icon Nageswara Rao, said his father, who died early Wednesday, was doing absolutely fine.

Nageswara died here at a private due to intestinal cancer. He was 91.

"My father was recovering well from the surgery. He was absolutely fine Tuesday evening and spent time with all our family members," Nagarjuna told reporters here.

Nageswara's body was shifted to Annapurna Studios for industry members and fans to pay their last respects. He will be cremated Thursday.

Born Sep 20, 1924, Nageswara's 70-year-old career comprises a filmography of 256 films. He had predominantly worked in Telugu as well as in a few Tamil films.

He started his career in theatre and played women roles in the initial years of his career. In 1944, he essayed the lead role in Telugu drama "Sitarama Jananam".

Some of his best films include "Batasari", "Devadasu" and "Prem Nagar". He was also shooting for Telugu family drama "Manam" with son Nagarjuna and grandson Akkineni Naga Chaitanya.