Hundreds of people — men, women and children - from across Karnataka came in droves on Sunday, since the break of dawn, at Bengaluru’s Kanteerava Stadium, where the mortal remains of legendary Kannada actor and former union minister Ambareesh were kept for public viewing. Apart from the common man, which included the fans of the national award-winning “rebel star” and his followers as a public representative, there were celebrities from both the film and political world.
The personalities who came to Kanteerava Stadium included former Prime Minister and JD(S) patriarch HD Deve Gowda, who was accompanied by his son and Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy. Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara also arrived at the venue on Sunday morning.
“This is a sad situation. It pains me to know that he is gone. He was a minister who served the people. He is the only rare person who gave up his ministership for the cause of Cauvery. The people of Mandya have lost one of their own,” the former Prime Minister told reporters gathered at the stadium.
Actor Rajinikanth, with whom Ambareesh shared a personal bond apart movies, broke down as he paid his last respects. He told reporters, “The actor Ambareesh can be reborn but we cannot see the human being Ambareesh again. I had come to Bengaluru last week to attend the wedding of my niece. I had always managed to have lunch at his home whenever I visited Bengaluru, but this time I could not.. I called him and apologised.”
He added, “At that moment, he said ‘next time if you do not come home, I will break your legs’.”
Stars from the cineworld included Megastar Chiranjeevi, Mohan Babu, Prakash Raj, Puneeth Rajkumar, Shivarajkumar, Jayanthi, Bharati Vishnuvardhan and Priyanka Upendra, among others.
There were personalities from the political spectrum as well. Former CM and Leader of Opposition BS Yeddyurappa, MP Shobha Karandlaje and BJP MLA Ashwath Narayanan came to offer their last respects.
Much to the relief of his fans, after a brief confusion, CM HD Kumaraswamy announced that his body will be flown by an Indian Air Force helicopter to his native Mandya and public viewing will be arranged at Vishweshwaraiah Stadium until 6 am on Monday. He also thanked Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for making the arrangement. The CM had earlier announced that the final rites will take place at the Kanteerava Studio in Bengaluru’s Chamrajpet on Monday.
Despite the huge gathering, traffic flow was not majorly affected. A posse of 2,000 police personnel, including the Rapid Action Force, were deployed in and around the stadium to contain any law and order situation.
Ambareesh suffered a cardiac arrest late on Saturday night at Bengaluru's Vikram Hospital after he was admitted for breathing difficulty. He was also suffering from kidney and lung ailments.
