Nagarjuna and Amala Akkineni among the attendees at the centenary celebrations, during which the ANR postal stamp was unveiled.
Actor Nagarjuna Akkineni brimmed with pride when he addressed the gathering in Hyderabad before the screening of Devadasu, the 1953 Telugu film starring his late father and legendary actor Akkineni Nageswara Rao (ANR) in one of his unforgettable roles. Devadasu is among the 10 films starring ANR restored by the Film Heritage Foundation and Annapurna Studios, in collaboration with the National Film Development Corporation and the National Film Archive of India. The event was attended by Amala Akkineni, Naga Chaitanya, Akhil, Supriya Yarlagadda, Sushanth, Sumanth and several other family members and dignitaries of Telugu cinema.
As part of the centenary celebrations, ANR 100: King of the Silver Screen film festival is screening 10 films at PVR and Inox multiplexes in 31 cities across India this weekend. In addition, Nagarjuna revealed that the Indian government will be celebrating ANR’s centenary at the Goa International Film Festival and that this year, Telugu superstar Chiranjeevi will be the recipient of the ANR award. Amitabh Bachchan will present the award to him on October 28.
Apart from Devadasu, the other Telugu classics that have been restored in 4K quality are Missamma, Mayabazar, Bharya Bharthalu, Gundamma Katha, Doctor Chakravarthy, Sudigundalu, Prem Nagar and Prema Abhishekam. ANR’s last film Manam (2014), which also starred Nagarjuna, Naga Chaitanya, Amala and Akhil, is also part of this festival. “The black and white prints are wonderful and I am sure the audience will have a fantastic experience watching the films,” Nagarjuna said.
A postal stamp was also released in honour of ANR.
Published – September 21, 2024 01:28 pm IST
