Nagarjuna,
Chiranjeevi
and
Amitabh
Bachchan.
Photograph:
Kind
courtesy
Chiranjeevi
Konidela/Instagram
Amitabh
Bachchan
presented
Chiranjeevi
with
the
ANR
National
Award
in
Hyderabad,
celebrating
the
late
movie
thespian
Akkineni
Nageswara
Rao’s
100th
birth
anniversary.
Before
presenting
the
award,
the
Big
B
spoke
highly
of
the
actor,
saying,
‘I
feel
deeply
honoured
that
you
have
chosen
me
to
honour
my
dear
friend
and
colleague
Chiranjeevi.
Whenever
I
call,
he
is
always
there.
Thank
you
Chiranjeevi
and
Nag
for
giving
me
a
part
in
your
film,
thanks
to
Vyjayanti
films,
and
Nag
Ashwin
for
giving
me
part
in
your
film.
Now
I
can
proudly
say
that
I
am
a
member
of
the
Telugu
film
industry.’
‘Thank
you,
Chiranjeevi,
for
your
friendship,
concern,
love,
affection,
humility
and
hospitality.
You
sent
me
so
much
lunch
that
I
would
have
fed
the
whole
hotel
today.
Please
treat
me
as
a
member
of
Telugu
film
industry
from
now
on.
Thank
you
so
much,’
Amitabh
added.
Chiranjeevi
got
emotional
while
receiving
the
award
and
touched
Bachchan’s
feet
as
a
mark
of
respect
to
the
senior
actor.
The
award,
instituted
by
the
Akkineni
International
Foundation,
annually
honours
artists
for
their
lifetime
contribution
to
cinema.
Photograph:
Kind
courtesy
Chiranjeevi
Konidela/Instagram
Chiranjeevi
later
took
to
Instagram
and
shared
pictures
from
the
award
function.
‘Blessed
and
Elated
to
receive
the
prestigious
‘ANR
National
Award’
named
after
the
Doyen
Akkineni
Nageswara
Rao
garu,
in
his
centenary
year,
through
the
hands
of
my
Forever
Guru
@amitabhbachchan
Amit
Ji.
‘Grateful
to
every
member
of
the
Akkineni
Family,
Members
of
Akkineni
International
Foundation,
especially
Shri.
T
Subbarami
Reddy
garu,
and
my
dearest
brother
and
friend
#NagarjunaAkkineni!
Forever
indebted
to
each
and
everyone
who
contributed
to
my
cinematic
journey
and
each
one
of
my
milestones,’
Chiranjeevi
added.
Photograph:
Kind
courtesy
Chiranjeevi
Konidela/Instagram
What
made
the
event
even
more
special
was
the
fact
that
Sobhita
Dhulipala
attended
the
event
with
Naga
Chaitanya,
making
this
their
first
official
outing
as
a
couple.
Nagarjuna,
ANR’s
son,
and
his
wife
Amala
were
also
present.
With
inputs
from
ANI
Photographs
curated
by
Satish
Bodas/Rediff.com