Akkineni Nageswara Rao | |
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Rao during his young days
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Born |
Akkineni Nageswara Rao 20 September 1924 Venkata Raghava Puram, Madras Presidency, British India (now Ramapuram, Andhra Pradesh, India) |
Died | 22 January 2014 Hyderabad, , India (now Hyderabad, Telangana, India) |
(aged 90)
Occupation | Actor |
Spouse(s) | Annapurna Akkineni (1949–2011) |
Children | Venkat Akkineni Nagarjuna Akkineni Sathyavathi Akkineni Naga Susheela Akkineni Saroja Akkineni |
Relatives | See Daggubati-Akkineni Family |
Awards |
Padma Vibhushan (2011) Padma Bhushan (1988) |
Akkineni Nageswara Rao (20 September 1924 – 22 January 2014), widely known as ANR, was an Indian film actor and producer, known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema. He starred in a variety of roles in his seventy five-year career as a matinee idol, while becoming one of the most prominent figures in the history of Telugu cinema. He was one of the instrumental figures in moving the Telugu cinema industry from Madras to Hyderabad in the early 1960s alongside D. V. S. Raju. He founded Annapurna Studios in the year 1975 to provide infrastructural support to the new film industry in Hyderabad. He later started the Annapurna International School of Film and Media within Annapurna Studios in 2011.
Nageswara Rao is known for his path-breaking works in biographical films; Rao essayed Tamil saint Thondaradippodi Alvar in the 1954 film Vipra Narayana; as Tenali Rama in the 1956 film Tenali Ramakrishna which received the All India Certificate of Merit for Best Feature Film; as Kalidas (the Sanskrit poet of Ujjain) in the 1960 film Mahakavi Kalidasu; as 12th Century Sanskrit poet Jayadeva of Odisha in the 1961 film Bhakta Jayadeva; as Kannada sculptor Amarashilpi Jakanachari in the 1964 film Amara Shilpi Jakkanna; as Marathi saint Tukaram in the 1971 film Bhakta Tukaram; as Kabir in the 2006 film Sri Ramadasu; and as Valmiki in the 2009 film Sri Rama Rajyam. Similarly, Rao essayed mythological figures such as Abhimanyu in Mayabazar which was screened at the 1957 International Film Festival of India and the Indonesian Film Festival; as Lord Vishnu in Chenchu Lakshmi; as Narada in Bhookailas; and as Arjuna in Sri Krishnarjuna Yuddhamu.