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Akkineni Nagarjuna, his wife Amala, their son Naga Chaitanya and his wife Sobhita Dhulipala met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his office in Parliament on Friday for the launch of a book on the 100th birth anniversary of veteran film personality and Nagarjuna’s father Akkineni…Read More
The meeting went on for nearly 90 minutes, after which, once again, the Prime Minister assured Nagarjuna and the film industry that his government would provide them with all the support and make it easier for the industry to spread its creative fabric. Image/X
It was a day when a family comprising some of India’s most popular celebrities was left “star-struck”.
Actor-producer Akkineni Nagarjuna, his actress wife Amala, their actor son Naga Chaitanya and his actress wife Sobhita Dhulipala had a special meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his office in Parliament on Friday.
The occasion was the launch of a special book on the 100th birth anniversary of veteran film personality and Nagarjuna’s father Akkineni Nageswara Rao (ANR).
It was overwhelming to hear Hon’ble Prime Minister @narendramodi ji’s commendations for ANR gaaru’s philanthropic legacy and his high regard for both @AnnapurnaStdios and Annapurna College of Film and Media as a pivotal institution for aspiring filmmakers. This esteemed… pic.twitter.com/1ieuGIcycl— Nagarjuna Akkineni (@iamnagarjuna) February 7, 2025
This was a meeting organised by Telugu Desam Party’s member of Parliament (MP) Lavu Sri Krishna Devarayalu.
The book, authored by Dr Y Lakshmi Prasad, beautifully encapsulates Padma Bhushan ANR’s journey as an iconic actor and philanthropist.
Not only did the Prime Minister spend time with the family and bless everyone, especially Nagarjuna’s son who got recently married, but he also had a long chat with the actor-producer on a host of issues.
Like always, the Prime Minister left the visitors impressed with his ability to recall meetings of the past and provide anecdotal references.
For Nagarjuna, this was certainly not his first meeting with the Prime Minister. While speaking to CNN-News18, he recalled that sometime in 2012-13 he expressed his desire to meet Narendra Modi, who he had heard a lot about as the Gujarat chief minister.
Back then, M Venkaiah Naidu, who was one of the tallest Telugu leaders in the BJP (and later became Vice President of India), helped him arrange that meeting in Ahmedabad. Cut to 2023, when he met the Prime Minister again, here is what impressed Nagarjuna the most about the man that he met over a decade ago. “I was really impressed with the work that Prime Minister Modi did back then, and when I met him today, a decade or so later, I am even more impressed to see that there has been no lack of energy. He seems to be getting more and more energetic now,” Nagarjuna told CNN-News18.
He went on to say that PM Modi not only spoke with him on the years that they hadn’t met but also recalled very fondly the contribution of his father to the film industry.
Modi recapitulated how his father not only contributed a great deal to the industry but also as a great socialist who had a role to play in transforming society. “He spoke about my father’s contribution as a philanthropist and how he was instrumental in transforming cinema in those days when the headquarters was only meant to be in Chennai,” Nagarjuna said.
The Prime Minister, through Nagarjuna, also appealed to the creative industry down south to come up with more ideas and innovation, as India is a country that the world looks forward to. “The vision of the Prime Minister is to make India the world’s content capital. He once again underscored the point that there is no Bollywood or Tollywood film industry, but the Indian film industry, which needs to take our content to the world,” Nagarjuna said.
The meeting went on for nearly 90 minutes, after which, once again, the Prime Minister assured Nagarjuna and the film industry that his government would provide them with all the support and make it easier for the industry to spread its creative fabric.
Nagarjuna said that he would coordinate with the PM’s office through Lavu Sri Krishna, who had arranged the meeting. PM Modi smiled and said, “Of course, Krishna is our star,” leaving everybody in splits.
Later on Friday, the Prime Minister held a meeting of the advisory board of WAVES (OTT platform of national public broadcaster Prasar Bharati), of which Nagarjuna himself is a member, along with other stars, like Deepika Padukone, Amitabh Bachchan, and businessman Mukesh Ambani, among others.
