Nagarjuna picked me up from nowhere: Shriya Saran

The veteran Telugu superstar Akkineni Nageswara Rao (lovingly called ANR) died at the age of 90 just after completing his last film Manam that has won itself several nominations for the upcoming South Filmfare Awards tonight. Shriya Saran, who was also the female lead of the film, had the privilege of shooting with him his last-ever scene. It was also coincidentally Nagarjuna who gave Shriya her first break in Telugu films and she considers Nag and his family her own.Over a cup of coffee, she speaks to us about her last memories with the legend ANR. Excerpts:
Talk about working with ANR in his last film Manam... For me, Nag picked me up from nowhere, he is beyond family and I get along very well with him. I had the privilege of working with ANR (father of Nagarjuna) in his last film Manam before he died of cancer. He was amongst the biggest stars we had in our country. Can you imagine there was a stamp issued on his name in America? That’s how big he was. Manam was a film on reincarnation, where ANR played my son and we are shooting this scene where he is talking to his dog and saying that the reason I can’t tell them that they are my parents in my last life is, as I don't know how long I will live. I will die any minute. And just 2-3 days after shooting this scene, he was told that he had cancer and that the doctors had given him just two months. It was brilliant working with him as he just drilled so much of positive energy, even though he was dying. I remember this scene in which he was lying on the floor in the middle of the road, with his head on my lap, and I am like stressing out as he was not well at all. He had just got his tumour removed and the doctors had given him just two months to live. And he says to me, ‘Why are you stressing out? I would rather die like this in front of the camera than in the hospital. Don’t feel bad for me. I am a very happy man right now.’ His days were numbered and he is telling me, ‘I don’t want to die like this. You have those 2-3 dialogues of mine no? Get a recording studio here, I want to record something.’ I couldn’t control myself and cried. I was watching the premiere show and there is a scene where ANR comes, peeps and goes away. I literally had goosebumps when he came and went back. It was a very funny feeling as you felt that he was around somewhere though he had actually died. A 90-year-old man was told when he was 50 that he won’t live anymore as he had been a heart patient.
Shriya adds, “Can you imagine he saw a car number with a year, took a picture of it and put it everywhere in his room and would tell everyone that this is when I am going to live till. Initially, he put up a car number for 60, then 70, then 80 and finally 90, after which he said, ‘Now, I give up.’ And he died at 90. This was his way of telling himself that he would live. ANR was shooting and Nag called me saying, ‘Give me a gun. I want to shoot myself as I can’t see this happening to him.’ It was very difficult to see him work when he had only two months left. But he gave so much to everyone. He was very unwell and towards the end, it was so difficult to shoot with him as he was allowed to shoot for only two hours, but he somehow managed and completed the film by sitting on a wheel chair. Every time you asked him, ‘Sir, are you okay?’ he would say, ‘Don’t worry ma. I am the happiest person right now.’ He was also so much fun. In Telugu, there is a word called muddu (means kiss) and a word called mandhu (means medicine). There was a line I had to say with mandhu (medicine), but I kept saying it with muddu (kiss) as I had come five minutes late that day on shoot and was therefore stressed out. And ANR said, ‘Don’t worry ma. Ya kiss me, kiss me. It’s okay.’ We as actors complain about late nights and travel. This man even while dying wanted to act. Cinema is all that he knew and was passionate about. It’s true when they say that there are souls around you to bless you. His soul was there for Manam.”