Naga Chaitanya Meets Nandamuri Balakrishna For FIRST Time After Akkineni Controversy, Hugs Him

Telugu star Naga Chaitanya and Nandamuri Balakrishna met for the first time in public after the latter’s disrespectful statement about Chaitanya’s grandfather, actor Akkineni Nageswara Rao. On Saturday, Chay and Balakrishna attended the NTR Centenary event in Hyderabad. While numerous stars had come together to honour Sr NTR, fans also noticed Chaitanya and Balakrishna crossing paths.

In videos and photos from the event, Chaitanya was seen making his way to the stage and greeting Balakrishna. The actor shared a hug with him before he greeted N. Chandrababu Naidu, who was also on stage with Balakrishna. The gesture suggested that the Akkineni family has moved past the incident now.

For the unversed, in January, Balakrishna said was speaking at an event about his contemporaries when made a disrepectful remake about Akkineni. “My father Sr NTR had some contemporaries, aa Ranga Rao (referring to SV Ranga Rao), Akkineni, Thokkineni, and some others,” he said.

The statement was not welcomed by the Akkineni family. Soon after, Naga Chaitanya issued a statement condemning the statement.

“Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao garu, Akkineni Nageswara Rao garu and S.V Ranga Rao garu’s creative contributions have been the pride and pillars of Telugu Cinema. Disrespecting them is degrading ourselves.” Akhil Akkineni shared the same statement. While the gesture at the event appears that the Akkinenis and Balakrishna have resolved the issue.

Meanwhile, speaking at the event, Chaitanya said thanked Balakrishna for inviting him. “I am very thankful to Balakrishna for inviting me to this program. I don’t need to talk separately about Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao’s acting, beauty and affection,” he said, as reported by TeluguStop.com.

Besides Naga Chaitanya, the event was also attended by Ram Charan, who also spoke highly about Sr NTR.