A major fire broke out at Annapurna Studios in Hyderabad’s Banjara Hills on Monday evening. The studio belongs to actor Akkineni Nagarjuna.
According to officials, the accident took place between 5.30 pm and 6 pm on Monday. No casualties have been reported.
While the reasons for the fire is yet to be ascertained, police suspect that the blaze could have been caused by a short circuit.
Four fire engines- two from Film Nagar Fire Station and one each from Sanathnagar and Secunderabad have been engaged to put out the blaze, police said. Twenty-five fire personnel are presently engaged in trying to douse the fire.
Due to traffic, the fire tenders reportedly arrived late at the spot.
Speaking to TNM Hyderabad District Fire Officer, Srinivas Reddy said, “We arrived to the spot at 6.30. 80% of the fire is under control. We will douse the fire in another one hour.”
Jubilee Hills Inspector K Purna Chander said, “No one was injured in the accident, as the sets were empty. The fire is now under control. We’ll be able to tell the reason for the fire tomorrow morning.”
The sets of Manam, the 2014 film starring Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Nagarjuna, Naga Chaitanya and Samantha as well as actor Chiranjeevi’s upcoming Sye Raa were totally gutted in the fire, according to Sakshi Post.
Manam was Nageswara Rao's last film before he passed away in January 2014.
Sye Raa, a historic biopic based on Telugu freedom fighter Uyyalawada Narasimha Reddy is directed by Surender Reddy and produced by Ram Charan. It also stars Nayantara, Amitabh Bachchan, Sudeep, Vijay Sethupathi and Jagapati Babu and is reportedly being made at a budget of Rs 150 crore.
The 22-acre Annapurna Studios was set up in 1975 as a production and distribution company by the late legendary actor Nageswara Rao and was named after his wife.