BENGALURU: Misty eyes gazed ahead longingly, prayers reverberated in the air, and Ambareesh’s family members, fans and colleagues from the film fraternity and politics held on to each other as Abhishek Gowda lit his father’s pyre at the Kanteerava Studios premises on Monday evening.
The Rebel Star, who passed away on Saturday, was cremated with state honours just a few metres from thespian Dr Rajkumar’s memorial. The police fired 21 rounds while the national anthem was played in the background.
When Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy handed over the Indian tricolour, which draped Ambareesh’s body, to his wife Sumalatha, the mother and son broke down. An emotional Sumalatha, who was on the verge of collapse when she entered the premises, held on to the tricolour tightly.
Leading actors such as Yash and Darshan carried the mortal remains to the pyre, showing their respect to their departed fatherly figure. Abhishek took the blessings of Nirmalananda Swamiji and Nanjavadhootha Swamiji before performing the rituals.
When the mortal remains were kept on the pyre, Sumalatha stepped forward and kissed her husband’s forehead and his feet.
Abhishek, who had until then tried to remain composed, broke down while hugging his father before keeping the last log of wood which covered his father’s face.
As noted priest Bhanu Sharma was out of India, nine of his pupils conducted the ritual as per Ambareesh’s family traditions. The priests came from Srirangapatna.
Among the state politicians present on the occasion were Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, Deputy CM G Parameshwara, former PM H D Deve Gowda, ministers D K Shivakumar, H D Revanna, Jayamala, Thammanna, Sa Ra Mahesh, and KJ George. AICC general secretary K C Venugopal; former Union Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde; former CMs S M Krishna, Siddaramiah, B S Yeddyurappa; and former minister R Ashok paid floral tribute to the departed soul.
Producer Rockline Venkatesh was with the family members till the last minute along with MLA and producer Munirathna. Shivarajkumar, Puneeth Rajkumar, veteran actress Sarojini Devi, actors Ravichandran, Jaggesh, Arjun Sarja, Duniya Vijay, Ganesh, Ramesh Aravind, Doddanna, JaiJagadeesh, Nikhil Kumaraswamy, Srinath, Prem, music directors Sadhu Kokila and Gurukiran, directors S Narayan and Rajendra Singh Babu, actress Jaya Prada and Mohan Babu from Tollywood also paid their respects.
The atmosphere was heavy with grief, and one of the relatives of the family, collapsed at the studio.
Earlier in the day, Ambareesh’s mortal remains were brought from Mandya to Kanteerava Stadium, and then taken in a procession to Kanteerava Studios. The procession reached the venue for the last rites at 4.15 pm. The pyre was lit at 5.56 pm - five hours after the scheduled time. Thousands of fans who had gathered in and around the studio premises waited patiently to see their hero’s last journey.