Akkineni Nagesvara Rao

Akkineni Nageswara Rao was born in September 1923 or 1924 in the village of Venkata Raghavapuram in the Madras Presidency of British India (now , Krishna County, Andhra Pradesh ) in the family of the farmer Akkineni Venkratratnam and his wife Punnam. From 9−10 years old he played in theatrical productions, where he often performed female roles (due to the ban on women on stage, which is characteristic of many national theaters) ^{[10] [11]} . The first time he acted in films at the age of 15-17, in the children's extras of the film Dharmapatni ^[10] .

His debut in the title role took place several years later, almost by accident: when the young man returned in the summer of 1944 after in with the troupe Mudinepalli Excelsior to , the producer noticed him when he stopped the train in , who was waiting for another train on the platform, and offered the young man the role of Rama in his new film Seeta Rama Jananam ^[10] .

Subsequently, the actor played in a large number of Telugu films, also playing roles in dozens of Tamil films and one role in Hindi (in the 1958 Hindi-language remake of the film Suvarna Sundari ) ^[8] . His acting career lasted more than 70 years, almost until his death, and consisted of more than 280 films, most of which were commercially successful and were well received by critics ^[12] .

Nageswara Rao played diverse roles in films of various genres, including alcoholics, soldiers, students, princes, and government officials. He was known throughout his life as an atheist , but had in his repertoire many roles from Indian mythology, starting with his first main role as Rama , and continuing with the characters Abhimanyu in Maya Bazaar , Vishnu in Chenchu ​​Lakshmi , Arjuna in Sri Krishnarjuna Yuddham and others, played holy ascetics and other roles in films with a significant religious theme, including Vipranarayana , Tukaram , Sriramadasu , Sriramarajyam , etc. ^{[13] [14] [15] [16]} . Rao successfully participated in comedies, for example, Missamma , Chakrapani and Preminchi Choodu , and at the same time was known as the “king of tragedy” for Telugu films, expressing this side of his work, in particular in the films Laila Majnu , Anarkali , Batasari , Devadasu , Prem Nagar , Meghasandesham and Premabhishekam .

The last of the above films, directed by director Dasari Narayan Rao , retains the status of one of the most successful films in Tollywood , becoming the only Telugu film to remain in the box office for more than a year in a row. The movie rental in Hyderabad amounted to a record 533 days (almost a year and a half in a row) ^{[17] [18] [19]} .

Another side of his work, which won the love of critics and art lovers, was the embodiment of a number of literary figures and other aspects of the culture of various regions of India, which became an instrument for uniting the nation, including the great Sanskrit poets Kalidas and Jayadeva , the sculptor Amarasilpi Jakkannu, the “master of flower garlands” of the Vaisnava saint Vipranarayanara and the poet Santa Tucaram .

In addition to acting, Akkineni Nagesvara Rao successfully worked in the field of film producer, both directly and through the company he organized, becoming one of the most influential personalities of Telugu cinema ^[8] . After the state of Andhra Pradesh was separated from the Madras presidency in the mid-1950s, he was one of the industry leaders who supported the idea of ​​a similar allocation of Telugu cinema and the transfer of its base from Madras to Tamil Nadu to the capital of the new state - Hyderabad , and became one of the founders of such an infrastructure base, having bought with the support of the government there a plot of about 7 hectares in size and began building a new spacious and technically developed system of studios. Starting from 1963-1964, he moved to Hyderabad himself and ordered his producers to transfer the shooting there ^[20] . The film company, named by the founder in honor of his wife began producing films since 1976 (after the grand opening with the participation of Indian President Fahruddin Ali Ahmed ) ^[21] and remains one of the leading studios in Tollywood.

Charity

Nageswara Rao is known as a humanist and philanthropist. According to the recollections of one of the editors of The Hindu , the cinematographer once said, pointing to the sky: “If someone is there, I’m sure that he would rather perform his earthly duty and be good people than blindly worship him” ^[22] .

At the top of his career, he founded the Akkineni Janmabhoomi Foundation and set about improving his native village of Ramapuram. Making every effort and taking advantage of good relations with the leader of the TDP party and later Prime Minister Andhra Pradesh , he managed to get the National Bank for Rural Development and Agriculture (NABARD) to allocate 80 million rupees for this purpose. These funds, as well as significant amounts added by himself, were used to build a bridge (now known as Akkineni Varadhi , the “Akkineni Bridge”) that spurred the economy of Ramapuram and surrounding villages and cities, safe water supply systems and other landscaping projects ^[23] .

Having not received a full-fledged education in childhood and youth, from the very beginning of his career he invested in educational institutions, and also helped people with limited resources to get an education by establishing scholarships at a number of higher educational institutions of the state, in particular, the GITAM University ] ^[24] . He was the principal trustee and honorary president of the Goodywad College, later named after him Akkineni Nageswara Rao College ^[25] , and was also a lifetime member of the Senate of Andhra University and an adviser to his department of drama and theater art and introduced a system of gold medals for performing and directing there. to encourage students ^[26] In 2011, he founded the non-profit film education institute ^[21] at his film company, and in 2012, another fund to promote education, the Akkineni Annapurna Educational Trust ^[27] .

Akkineni Nagesvara Rao Prize

Having received the highest film award in India in 1991, the prize named after Dadasaheb Falke , the father of Indian cinema, who died in 1944, Akkineni Nageswara Rao decided to create and sponsor a similar award in his lifetime. In 2005, he founded the , which in turn developed the new ANR National Award and, starting in 2006, annually awards it to filmmakers for their lifetime achievements and contribution to the development of the Indian film industry ^{[28] [29 ] [29 ] ]} . Among those awarded were Dev Anand , Shabana Azmi , Anjali Devi, Vijayantimala Bali , Lata Mangeshkar , K. Balachander , Hema Malini , Shyam Benegal , Sridevi and Amitabh Bachchan .

Death

End of life Akkineni Nagesvara Rao was overshadowed by his diagnosis of bowel cancer . On October 19, 2013, the cinematographer announced to fans about his diagnosis, confirmed by oncologist , without losing vigor and saying that, taking into account modern medicine and his own strong will, he is not afraid of fighting cancer, despite his advanced age. He mentioned that he suffered two heart attacks and heart surgery in 1974 and 1988, and has lived happily since a quarter century, and turned to fans, friends and relatives to wish him and give him the strength to live to 100, overtaking his mother, survived to 96 years ^{[30] [31]} .

In October 2013, Nagesvara underwent surgery followed by chemotherapy ^{[31] [32]} . Despite general weakness and a slow recovery predictable for such an age, he retained full consciousness and remained active; among other things, he demanded that he deliver the necessary equipment to the hospital ward two weeks after the surgery and completed most of his voice there in his latest film “ Our Family ” ^[33] , and also took part on January 14, 2014 in celebration of the next anniversary of the founding film companies .

Akkineni Nagesvara Rao died on January 22, 2014 in Hyderabad. Knowing the diagnosis, most assumed death from cancer, but according to the explanation of the doctors, the actor and producer died in his sleep, at 1:30 in the afternoon, from a third heart attack ^[34] .

The famous actor and producer was cremated in the afternoon of January 23, 2014, after the farewell of his native colleagues and fans, which took place in the territory of Annapurna Studios ^[35] . A colleague of the late Amitabh Bachchan stated: “This morning, another great cinema legend, the luminaries of Telugu cinema Nageshwar Rao, one of the most delicate and welcoming personalities, who left behind an outstanding legacy, left”. ^[36] Tamil cinema veteran Kamal Hassan said of him: “Dr. Akkineni Nagesvara Rao was a three-generation star. Until the moment he left, for me he was a star. Now we and heaven have lost this brightest star, speaking Telugu, Hindi and Tamil ” ^[36] .

A number of leaders of the country expressed their condolences, including President of India Pranab Mukherjee , who stated: “The renowned Telugu actor, producer and screenwriter Sri Nageswara Rao will forever remain in our memory in his unforgettable films. His outstanding contributions to Indian cinema have been praised by a number of awards. With his death, the film industry lost its creative personality, whose contribution to the Telugu cinema has no equal ” ^[37] .

The life work of Akkineni Nagesvara Rao was inherited by his children and grandchildren, most of whom also became actors and producers of Telugu cinema, including his son Akkineni Nagarjuna and grandchildren of , , and Nagu Caitanya .

Telugu

In other languages

(mainly in Tamil, with the exception of the remake of Suvarna Sundari in Hindi, 1958)