“Superstar Krishna Was A Maverick,” Nagarjuna Gets Emotional About Krishna’s Death.

“To say that  a legend has gone  would be  an understatement . Superstar Krishna—that’s what  we all call him and  he is known  by his fans by  that  epithet—was a hero  and  a role-model  to  all of us,” says  the iconic Nagarjuna  emotionally.

Nag had  met  the  Superstar  a few  months  back. “After his  wife, Mahesh  Babu’s mother Indira  Devi’s death  in September,  I  visited  him spent  time with him. Krishna Garu(Sir)  was  completely  broken  after the death of his  son  Ramesh Babu and first wife Indira Devi. His  second wife  Vijaya Nirmala was also gone. I think Krishna Garu had lost the will to live. He  was  lonely.”

Nag remembers Krishna  as a pioneer of Telugu cinema. “He was responsible  for  many firsts  in Indian cinema.  He brought the  70 mm  screen format  and the  Cinemascope  format  to Telugu cinema. He introduced the  spy and the detective genre into Telugu cinema. He had seen  the  transition  of  Indian cinema  from the  black-and-white to  35mm Eastman  colour  , from mono  sound to stereo …he  witnessed it all. And he was instrumental in  introducing many  innovations  into Telugu cinema.”

Nag recalls Krishna  as  an erudite cineaste, “From boxoffice collections  to technical  advancement , Krishna Garu was  well-informed  about all  the developments  in  cinema. I  could  spend hours  with him. And I did.Every few months  I would visit him. H e had so much knowledge to  share about cinema and so  much gossip about  the  Telugu film industry. Sorry, I can’t share  that gossip with  you.But his  knowledge  of  the goings-on were  shockers. Trust me,  spending time  with Krishna Garu was  a treat.”

Nag and  Krishna  also did  a film together. “That’s right.We  did a film Varasudu in 1993  together. It  was  a remake  of   that Hindi film Phool Aur Kaante.  He played Amrish Puri’s son and I   played Ajay Devgn’s role. I  was  supposed to hate  him in Varasudu. That  was  really tough.  Krishna Garu was  such a warm generous  and  considerate  man. The smile  never left his face. I am  glad he  didn’t have  to suffer  much  before  going.”

Nag’s  heart reaches  out Mahesh Babu.  “This is  Mahesh’s  third loss in  a  row and perhaps  the biggest  blow. He earlier  lost his brother and  mother this  year. Mahesh is  very family-oriented. He doesn’t  socialize. To him his family  is everything.I can’t begin to think how  much he must be  suffering.”

Nag says he has always had a soft corner  for Mahesh Babu.  “Athough I am  much older.We  are very similar in  background. Our fathers were  both  reputed actors.  Both Mahesh and I  had to  struggle hard to establish  our own identity.I found my own style  of acting, just like Mahesh found his own. Now my son Nag Chaitanya is doing his own  thing. I’ve tried to  persuade him to be louder on screen  . He  refuses.  Mahesh has always said he has followed my path. I also lost my father some years ago. The way to comfort yourself is to  believe he  is  in a  better place.  Although my father was much older than Mahesh Babu’s father they were friends. I am sure they’re bonding  up there now.”