Nagarjuna and Amala Akkineni celebrated their 28th wedding anniversary on Thursday at their residence in Hyderabad. Nagarjuna took to Twitter to post an adorable picture of himself with his wife Amala and thanked his fans for wishing them on the special occasion.
Nagarjuna wrote, "Thank you all for the blessings in these troubled times! be well my friends! (sic)."
Nagarjuna was first married to Lakshmi Ramanaidu Daggubati, who is the daughter of the veteran film producer Daggubati Ramanaidu in February 1984. Nagarjuna’s father Akkineni Nageswara Rao was a good friend of Daggubati Ramanaidu and the wedding was arranged by the families. By 1986, Naga Chaitanya was born and post that, the couple's relationship hit a tough road and that led to their separation in 1990.
The friendship
That was the time when Nagarjuna was doing back to back films. Nagarjuna was working on one of his many films opposite the Anglo-Indian actress Amala Mukherjee. Unlike other actresses back then, Amala was known for her dedication towards her career and her punctuality.
It is said that Nagarjuna was impressed by her disciplined attitude. During one film shoot, Nagarjuna was waiting for his heroine and came to know that Amala was reluctant to step out of the vanity van. Nagarjuna, then decided to go and check as to what was wrong with Amala. When he entered, he found Amala sitting on a chair and sobbing. He was surprised to see her crying, and when he inquired about the reason, Amala shared that she was given a really goofy costume for the next scene which she just did not want to wear.
Nagarjuna was swayed by the innocence of the actress, and suggested that she talk to the director about the changing the costume. Amala was surprised by Nagarjuna's response. She was touched by the care and concern by the superstar as she least expected a supportive stand from him. Since that Nagarjuna and Amala became close to each other and shared a warm freindship.
The proposal
It was in 1991 that Nagarjuna proposed to Amala on one of their trips together to the United States, and the second Nagarjuna wedding to Amala was set. Nagarjuna tied the knot with his wife Amala in June 1992 at an extremely private wedding ceremony held in Chennai. In an interview Amala recalled about it. She said, “Well like movies, love and marriage also happened. Nag surprised me out of the blue and asked me to marry him. After all the euphoria and excitement subsided, I asked him, “Will we move to Hyderabad?” He said, “Yes.” I said, “I don’t have to rush to work?” He said, “If you don’t want to, you need. You can do whatever you like to do.” I was so excited at that thought. I was tired of continuously working and living life out of a suitcase. About 50 films in 8 years is a lot, so I was really exhausted. When Nag proposed to me, I felt like I was going on a long holiday. It’s been 23 years now and it has been a very beautiful journey with him.”
The couple were later blessed with a son Akhil Akkineni and are happily continuing two decades of togetherness.
