Media ‘kills’ off Tollywood comedian
Local media wrongly reported that ailing actor M S Narayana has passed away, condolences poured in
P Pavan (MUMBAI MIRROR; January 23, 2015)


Veteran Tollywood comic M S Narayana, who is currently undergoing treatment for malaria in a Hyderabad hospital, was wrongly pronounced dead by the local media.

The news first broke on the noon bulletin of two TV news channels on Thursday and soon the condolence messages started pouring in.

The first to respond was YSR Congress chief Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy who sent out a message of condolence to media outlets, minutes after the death was reported. Other Tollywood veterans including Kota Srinivasa Rao and Srinu Vaitla too joined in to express their grief.

The faux pas was revealed when members of the film fraternity contacted Narayana's family members.

Narayana's children got wind of the 'breaking news' and announced that their father was alive. "We were pained to see this false news on TV channels. Nobody checked with us before pronouncing our father dead," lamented his son Vivek and daughter Sasikiran.

Soon the media and Jagan backtracked, with the politician once again sending out a message asking journalists to ignore the previous message.

The 63-year old Narayana who has acted in over 500 films in a career spanning 35 years, was screened for malaria upon his return from Pongal celebrations in his native place, earlier this month.

He was admitted to KIMS hospital on January 19. After the 'death' rumour, the hospital too released a medical bulletin stating that the actor is alive. "He is on the ventilator and his condition is critical", said Dr. Narayana Babu, who is treating him.