ANR centenary celebrations: ‘Mayabazar’, ‘Devadasu’ among 10 restored classic films to be screened across India

Akkineni Nageswara Rao | Photo Credit: File photo; Ramakrishna G

A retrospective film festival titled ANR 100: King of the Silver Screen will pay tribute to legendary actor Akkineni Nageswara Rao. On the occasion of the veteran actor’s 100th birthday on September 20, the late actor’s family will showcase 10 of his most memorable films in collaboration with Film Heritage Foundation, National Film Development Corporation, National Film Archive of India and PVR-INOX. These films will be screened in cinemas across 25 cities including Hyderabad, Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bengaluru, Vadodara, Jalandhar, Rourkela, Warangal, Kakinada and Tumkur from September 20 to 22.

There are restored classics Devadas (1953), Missamma (1955), mayabazar (1957), bharya bharthalu (1961), Gundamma Katha (1962), Dr Chakraborty (1964), Sudigundalu (1968), Prem Nagar (1971), Premabhishekam (1981) and Manam (2014).

Shivendra Singh Dungarpur of the Film Heritage Foundation said the festival is being held after successful retrospectives of Amitabh Bachchan, Dilip Kumar and Dev Anand. “This retrospective features a selection of films from 1953 to 2014, covering some of ANR’s biggest hits, which continue to resonate in people’s hearts even decades later.”

ANR Centenary Celebrations

Actor Nagarjuna Akkineni said, “It was apt to call my father Natasamrat because he played a wide range of roles – from a saint to a drunkard to a romantic hero – which is how he won people’s hearts for decades. Devadasu, Premabhishekam, Doctor Chakraborty And Sudigundalu People still love him. He was a pioneer; he founded Annapurna Studios, which laid the first foundation of the Telugu film industry in our state. We are proud of his legacy and through this festival, audiences across the country will remember an icon of Indian cinema. We would like to preserve this legacy so that people remember him for the next 100 years.”

Amitabh Bachchan, who has been closely associated with the Film Heritage Foundation, recalled ANR’s humility and simplicity and said he was deeply impressed by him. “This is the first time a retrospective of this scale has been organised for Telugu cinema. The festival will give contemporary audiences an opportunity to experience ANR’s screen presence, versatility and range.”

In his career spanning 71 years, ANR worked as an actor and producer in over 250 films in Telugu, Hindi and Tamil.