Akkineni Nageswara Rao
Film actor
Akkineni Nageswara Rao was an Indian film actor and producer, predominantly in the Telugu cinema. He was best known for playing female characters, because women at that time were prohibited from acting.
Born: September 20, 1923, Ramapuram (Venkata Raghava Puram)
Died: January 22, 2014
Height: 1.70 m
Spouse: Annapurna Akkineni (m. 1949–2011)
Children: Nagarjuna, Sathyavathi Akkineni, Naga Susheela, Akkineni Venkat
Movies
1962
2006
1963
1955
Early life and background
Akkineni Rao was born into a poor family on 20 September 1923, the youngest of five brothers, at Ramapuram, Krishna District.[1] His parents, Akkineni Venkatratnam and Akkineni Punnamma, were from the farming community. His formal education was limited to primary schooling due to his parents' poor economic condition Indian cinema.
Rao was invited as a State Guest by the United States, the UK, France and Germany in 1964, and the USSR in 1972, to study film craft and theatre arts in the respective countries. He visited Australia in 1967 leading the delegates for the Indian entry film, Antastulu, at the Sydney Film Festival. He also led a film delegation to Mauritius.
Film career
In 1941, at the age of 17, Rao made his debut in the Telugu film, Dharmapatni, in which he played the role of the protagonist's friend.[8]ANR, as he's referred to, was discovered by chance at the Vijayawada railway station by the film producer, Ghantasala Balaramaiah, and was offered the lead role of Lord Rama in his upcoming movie Seeta Rama Jananam.[8] Before that, he predominantly acted in theatre, many times donning female roles since women weren't allowed on stage at that time.[8][9] He acted in over 255 films, spanning the Telugu, Tamil and Hindi languages and became of the most prominent figures in the history of Telugu cinema.[3] A majority of his films were both commercial and critical successes.[1]
Among other things, Rao is credited for influencing Telugu film producers and creating a base for Telugu films in Hyderabad. The Telugu film industry, in its early days, was based out of Madras (now Chennai) in Tamil Nadu.[10] The new state of Andhra Pradesh was carved out from the Madras Presidency on 1 November 1956 and several leaders opined that in order to create a separate identity for the Telugu film industry, it had to be based out of Hyderabad, the capital of Andhra Pradesh. ANR was one of the first actors of that period who insisted on moving the Telugu film center from Chennai to Hyderabad. He established his own 22 acre production studio/house, named Annapurna Studios after his wife, in the heart of Hyderabad, to facilitate this.[11]
Despite being an atheist, Rao acted in various movies with strong religious themes such as Vipranarayana,Tukaram, Sriramadasu, Sriramarajyam etc.[4][5][6][7]
Prominent films
Rao played a variety of roles ranging from a charming prince to a frustrated alcoholic lover, from a valiant soldier to a holy saint, and from a college student to a composed government official. He excelled in mythological roles too as Abhimanyu in Maya Bazaar, as Lord Vishnu in Chenchu Lakshmi; as Narada in Bhookailash; and Arjuna in Sri Krishnarjuna Yuddham. In rural oriented films like Balaraju, Rojulu Maraayi, and Namminabantu, he attained the status of Telugu cinema's first superstar. Surprisingly in comedy films too like Missamma, Chakrapani, and Preminchi Choodu, he made a striking mark. ANR is fondly called the "Tragedy King" of Telugu cinema, through his milestone performances in romantic dramas such as Laila Majnu, Anarkali, Batasari, Prem Nagar, Premabhishekam, and Meghasandesham.
The film Premabhishekam directed by Dasari Narayana Rao is one of the biggest hits in Tollywood. It had a 533-day run in Hyderabad City, the highest run in a city for any Telugu movie. Premabhishekam is the only Telugu film to have run for more than 365 days continuously.[12][13][14]
Rao was the first to don a double role in Telugu films, and even played nine roles in the film Navarathri. ANR's portrayal of an alcoholic jilted lover in Devadasu erected an everlasting monument to Sarath Chandra's famous Bengali character. Although that role was reprised by many in later years in several different languages, it prompted the famous Hindi actor Dilip Kumar to say, "there is only one Devadasu, and that is Nageswara Rao." A majority of ANR's social films like Samsaram, Bratuku Teruvu, Aradhana, Donga Ramudu, Dr. Chakravarthi, Ardhaangi, Mangalya Balam, Illarikam, Shantinivasam, Velugu Needalu, Dasara Bullodu, Bharya Bhartalu, Dharmadata, Batasari, and College Bullodu were commercially successful films. Sitaramayyagari Manavaralu was released in 1991, exactly 50 years after his debut, and was a huge success at the box office, despite the influx of newer and younger stars.
A feature that won Rao acclaim from critics and art lovers was that he enacted the roles of literary and cultural icons of different regions in India, thereby making them instruments of national integration – as the great Sanskrit poet, Mahakavi Kalidas of Ujjain; as the celebrated musician saint, Bhakta Jayadeva of Odisha; as the temple sculptor, Amarasilpi Jakkanna of Karnataka; as the devotee saint, Vipranarayana of Tamil Nadu; and as the singer Bhakta Tukaram. Manam was the last film of Akkineni Nageswara Rao, where he shared screen space with his son Nagarguna and grand son Naga Chaitanya.
Death
Akkineni Nageswar Rao died on 22 January 2014 in Hyderabad aged 90.[15] He had announced a few months earlier that he had intestinal cancer, and was receiving treatment. He died undergoing treatment in Care Hospitals, Banjara Hills.[16] Family sources said he died at 12.10 AM, however the announcement was made after 2 AM.[17]
Awards and honours
- Civilian honors
- Padma Vibhushan (2011)[18][19]
- Filmfare Best Film Award (Telugu) – Sudigundalu (1968)[21]
- Filmfare Best Actor Award (Telugu) – Marapurani Manishi (1973)[22]
- Filmfare Best Actor Award (Telugu) – Seetharamaiah Gari Manavaralu (1991)[23]
- Filmfare Best Actor Award (Telugu) – Bangaru Kutumbam (1994)
- Raghupathi Venkaiah Award (1989)[18]
- NTR National Award (1996)[18]
- Meghasandesam (1982)[24]
- Bangaru Kutumbam (1994)[25]
- Other State honors
- Kalaimamani from Tamil Nadu State
- Kalidasu from Madhya Pradesh State[26] At one point he was also appointed as an adviser to the State Film Development Corporation.[26]
- International honors
- Lifetime Achievement Award from Telugu Association of North America - 2012
Literary works
Apart from being a movie star, ANR was a prolific writer. Some of his prominent books being are his autobiographical work, Nenu Na Jeevitham, the memoirs of his first visit to the USA, Nenu Choosina America, and the expression of his thoughts in his book, A Aalu. His most recent, contemplative, self-reflective work is the book Manasuloni Maata. He was awarded an honorary doctorate from several Indian universities.
ANR National Award
When Akkineni Nageswara Rao was honoured with the prestigious Dada Saheb Phalke Award in 1991, he desired to create a similar award in his lifetime. The Akkineni International Foundation is the charitable arm of Annapurna Studios. The ANR National Award was instituted by the foundation in the honour of Akkineni Nageswara Rao in 2005. The award is given annually to recognize people for their lifetime achievements and contributions to the Indian film industry.[27][28]
| Year | Awardee | Details |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Dev Anand | Actor, Writer, Director & Producer Honoured with Memento, Citation &  300,000 Cash |
| 2006 | Shabana Azmi | Actress Honoured with Memento, Citation & 300,000 Cash |
| 2007 | Anjali Devi | Actress & Producer Honoured with Memento, Citation & 400,000 Cash |
| 2008 | Vyjayantimala Bali | Actress, Classical Dancer, Singer, Choreographer Honoured with Memento, Citation & 400,000 Cash |
| 2009 | Lata Mangeshkar | Playback Singer Honoured with Memento, Citation & 400,000 Cash |
| 2010 | K. Balachander | Actor & Producer Honoured with Memento, Citation & 500,000 Cash |
| 2011 | Hema Malini | Actor, Classical Dancer, Director & Producer Honoured with Memento, Citation & 500,000 Cash |
| 2012 | Shyam Benegal | Writer, Director, Producer Honoured with Memento, Citation & 500,000 Cash |
Source from wikipedia
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