Akkineni Nageswara Rao

Akkineni Nageswara Rao (20 September 1924 – 22 January 2014), widely known as ANR, was an Indian actor and producer, known for his work majorly in Telugu cinema. He starred in many landmark films in his seventy five-year career, and became one of the most prominent figures of Telugu cinema. Akkineni received seven state Nandi Awards, and five Filmfare Awards South. He is a recipient of the Dada Saheb Phalke Award and Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian award, for his contributions to the fields of Art and Cinema.

Akkineni is known for his work in biographical films. He portrayed the Tamil saint Vipra Narayana in the 1954 film Vipra Narayana; Telugu poet Tenali Ramakrishna in the 1956 film Tenali Ramakrishna, which received the All India Certificate of Merit for Best Feature Film; the Sanskrit poet Kalidasa in the 1960 film Mahakavi Kalidasu; the 12th century Sanskrit poet Jayadeva in the 1961 film Bhakta Jayadeva; the legendary sculptor Jakanachari in the 1964 film Amara Silpi Jakkanna; the Marathi saint Tukaram in the 1971 film Bhakta Tukaram; 15th century mystic poet Kabir in the 2006 film Sri Ramadasu; and Sanskrit poet Valmiki in the 2009 film Sri Rama Rajyam. Similarly, he played many mythological figures such as Lord Vishnu in Chenchu Lakshmi (1958); Narada in Bhookailas (1958), and Arjuna in Sri Krishnarjuna Yuddhamu (1963).

He is also remembered for his performances in romantic dramas Laila Majnu (1949), Devadasu (1953), Anarkali (1955), Batasari (1961), Mooga Manasulu (1964), Prema Nagar (1971), Premabhishekam (1981), and Meghasandesam (1982). He also starred in the blockbusters Balaraju (1948), Keelu Gurram (1949), Ardhangi (1955), Donga Ramudu (1955), Mangalya Balam (1958), Gundamma Katha (1962), Doctor Chakravarty (1964), Dharma Daata (1970), and Dasara Bullodu (1971).

He was one of the instrumental figures in the shifting of the Telugu film industry from Madras to Hyderabad in the 1970s. He established Annapurna Studios in 1976 to provide infrastructural support to Telugu cinema in Hyderabad. He later started the Annapurna International School of Film and Media within Annapurna Studios in 2011. Manam (2014) was the last film of Akkineni, who died on 22 January 2014 during the film's production phase. Manam was featured at the 45th IFFI in the Homage to ANR section on 29 November 2014.