The world audience keenly observes the Telugu film industry for its magnanimous technical labour. The upbringing of Indian roots in culture, epics, magic, and mythology by utilizing the available paraphernalia and its blend in scientific temperament. A recent example is that of Nag Ashwin’s directorial, Kalki 2898 A.D. But everything will have its inception or rather a ‘spark’ in vernacular terms. There is a person who began and played an instrumental role in building an identity of ‘The Telugu Film Community’, who is none other than Akkineni Nagaeswara Rao or ‘A.N.R’.
As part of the commemoration of the 100th birth anniversary of the esteemed par excellence, the ‘Film Heritage Foundation’, a non-profit organization based in Mumbai will be conducting a film festival with an attempt to show ten restored classics of the visionary in twenty-five Indian cities from September 20 to 22. The project is named “ANR 100- King of the Silver Screen” which could be a great initiative from the team’s side enabling the possibility of understanding the soul and sweat of Telugu Cinema. The earlier festivals had paid tribute to legends like actors Amitabh Bachchan, Dilip Kumar, and Dev Anand respectively.
Akkineni Nagaeswara Rao or A.N.R. started his efforts by being a theater actor at a very young age and performing female characters as women were mostly prohibited from acting and theatres. His shift in destiny began when he met Ghantasala Balaramayya, who later offered a film to Rao named ‘Sri Rama Seetha Jananam’ in 1944 as a lead role. A.N.R was predominantly praised by the audience for his exemplary performance in genres like drama and romance which could help him increase his fan-following and thereby stardom.
Apart from being the ‘Natasamrat’, which is affectionately called by his fans, he played a prevalent role in shifting the base of Telugu cinema from Madras to Hyderabad. His self-determination of the point to work only on the films that were produced in Andhra Pradesh in the 1970’s one of the brave decisions during the period. In 1976, he dressed up as a producer and distributor by establishing a production company ‘Annapurna Studios’ which is named after his beloved wife, in Hyderabad as part of his efforts to provide the necessary infrastructure to produce films there.
The movies that will be screening these two days are namely ‘Devadasu’ (1953), ‘Missamma’ (1955), ‘Mayabazar’ (1957), ‘Bharya Bharthalu’ (1961), ‘Gundamma Katha’ (1962), ‘Doctor Chakravarti’ (1964), ‘Sudigundalu’ (1968), ‘Prem Nagar’ (1971), ‘Premabhishekam’ (1981) and ‘Manam’ (2014) respectively. What makes an interesting fact is that each movie differs in its content, genre, or sub-genre perspective. These movies are the catalyst for setting a different possibility and track for the film industry. All the flicks said above were the industrial superhits during the period.
The potential of propagation of these ideas can be a good source of learning experience for outside industries and this will motivate the younger generation to know the historical side. ‘Devadasu’ is considered to be the all-time greatest emulation among its other versions. The portrayal of ‘Abhimanyu’, a character of Mahabharatha in the film ‘Mayabazar’ is brilliant and subtle. The character A.K Rao provides humour for the romantic-comedy movie ‘Missamma’ and Anand in ‘Bharya Barthalu’, a drama movie that shows the couple’s conflicts.
Raja in ‘Gundamma Katha’ provides laughter whereas the character Dr. Chakravarti brings a much more serious approach to the film. Justice Chandra Sekharam in the movie ‘Sudigundalu’ which is a law-philosophical drama is an acting school. Movies like ‘Prem Nagar’ and ‘Premabhishekam’ are the must-watch love-story dramas. ‘Manam’ shows the union of legacy in the Akkineni family. This was his last on-screen movie alongside Akkineni Nagarjuna and Akkineni Nagachaityanya, who are his son and grandson respectively.
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