Actor-filmmaker
Kamal
Hassan
has
expressed
his
deepest
condolences
to
the
family
of
late
Telugu
actor
Akkineni
Nageswara
Rao,
who
was
fondly
called
by
the
name
ANR.
The
legendary
Tollywood
star
breathed
his
last
on
January
22.
The
Universal
Star
has
claimed
that
ANR
was
his
spiritual
guru
and
opened
up
on
his
influence
on
him
in
a
video
message.
Kamal
said,
"ANR
was
my
spiritual
guru.
He
was
my
guru
not
just
in
acting,
but
as
a
rationalist.
When
I
was
16
and
working
as
an
assistant,
he
spoke
to
me
once.
The
effect
of
that
has
kept
me
intact
as
a
rational
person
for
this
long."
"As
a
star,
he
has
seen
three
generations.
Till
the
moment
he
left
us,
in
my
eyes,
he
was
a
star.
We've
now
lost
a
star.
The
sky
will
be
bereft
of
the
brightest
star
I
have
known
who
spoke
Telugu,
Hindi
and
Tamil,"
he
added.
Akkineni
Nageswara
Rao
was
born
on
September
20,
1924.
He
acted
in
over
250
films
in
his
70-year
association
with
film
industry.
His
debut
movie
was
Dharmapatni
in
1941.
But
it
was
Sitarama
Jananam
that
launched
him
as
a
hero.
His
last
movie
was
Manam
with
his
son
Nagarjuna,
and
grandsons
Akkineni
Akhil
and
Naga
Chaitanya.
The
movie
is
yet
to
be
released.