Akkineni Nageswara Rao Details

Akkineni Nageswara Rao (20 September 1923 – 22 January 2014) was a prominent Indian film actor and producer, predominantly in the Telugu cinema. From paddy fields, he strode into the field of fine arts through theatre. He became a famous stage artiste, specialising, surprisingly, in playing female characters, because women at that time were prohibited from acting.

Death
Akkineni Nageswar Rao died on 22 January 2014 in Hyderabad aged 90. He was suffering with intestinal cancer and died undergoing treatment in Care Hospitals, Banjara Hills.Family sources said he died at 12.10 AM, however the announcement was made after 2 AM.

Rao was discovered, by chance, by the then prominent film producer, Ghantasala Balaramaiah, at the Vijayawada railway station. He was then cast in the film Dharmapatni. Since then, he starred in several films of various genres during his 75-year acting career and came to be known as one of the two pillars of the Telugu cinema along with N.T. Rama Rao.

Rao won two Andhra Pradesh state Nandi Awards for Best Actor, three Filmfare Best Telugu Actor Awards during his acting career, and is a recipient of the Dada Saheb Phalke Award, the highest individual lifetime achievement award for films in India. He was honored with the Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian award, for his contribution towards Indian cinema.


Born               Akkineni Nageswara Rao
                        20 September 1923
                        Venkata Raghava Puram, Madras Presidency, British India
                       (now Ramapuram, Andhra Pradesh, India)
Died                22 January 2014 (aged 90)
                         Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India
Residence         Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India 
Other names     Natasamrat, ANR
Occupation       Actor, producer, studio owner
Spouse(s)          Annapurna Akkineni (1933–2011;her death)
Children           Venkat Akkineni, Sathyavathi Akkineni, Naga Susheela A., Saroja Akkineni
Relatives          Sumanth (grandson),Sushanth (grandson),Naga Chaitanya (grandson),
                       Akhil Akkineni     (grandson),Amala Akkineni (daughter-in-law)

Akkineni Rao was born into a poor family on 20 September 1923, the youngest of five brothers, at Ramapuram, Krishna District.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 of America, England, France and Germany in 1964 and the USSR in 1972 besides some other countries in the West to study Film Craft and Theatre Arts in the respective countries. He had visited Australia in 1967 leading the delegates for the Indian Entry Film, Antastulu, at the Sydney Film Festival. He also led a high level Film Delegation to Mauritius. All across the globe, the people felicitated Dr. Akkineni with love and honour.

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. ANR, as he's fondly referred to, was discovered by chance at the Vijayawada railway station by the noted film producer, Ghantasala Balaramaiah, a popular film producer of that time, and was immediately offered the lead role of Lord Rama in his upcoming movie Seeta Rama Jananam. Before that, he predominantly acted in theater, many times donning female roles since women weren't allowed on stage at that time. He has since 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. A majority of his films were both commercial and critical successes.

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. 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.
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.

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.