Star Portrait-ANR

Nata Samrat Akkineni Nageswara Rao is celebrating his birthday today.Akkineni Nageswara Rao was born into a poor farmer's family on 20 September 1924 at Venkataraghava Puram,Ramapuram, Krishna District.He has stated on record in several interviews that his education was limited to primary schooling due to his parents' poor economic conditions. Nageswara Rao took to acting at a very early age. He started acting in street plays at the age of nine.Indian plays in those days used to have an all male cast and male leads often played female roles (as evidenced in the first Indian feature film, Raja Harishchandra).In his early days as an actor, Nageswara Rao used to enact such female roles on stage.

Nageswara Rao's first Telugu film was Dharmapatni in 1941, wherein he played the role of one of the main lead's childhood friends.He later continued his career as a part-time stage actor and acted in several Telugu plays such as Ashoka Jyothy, Sathyanveshana and Telugu Talli.On one such occasion, when he was travelling back from a play in Tenali, he was spotted in the Vijayawada railway station by Ghantasala Balaramaiah, a popular film producer of that time, and was immediately offered the lead role in his upcoming movie Seetha Rama Jananam. He played the role of Lord Rama in that film.

In a career spanning over 78 years in the Telugu film industry, he has played the lead role in over 256 Telugu films and 26 Tamil films. Several of these films turned out to be financial and critical successes.Among other things, Nageswara Rao is credited for influencing Telugu film producers and creating a base for Telugu films in Hyderabad.
ANR was one of the actors of that period who insisted on creating a base for Telugu films in Hyderabad and established his own production studio, Annapurna Studios, to facilitate this.

ANR has acted in several landmark Telugu films. Some of his prominent films are Tenali Rama Krishna, Kalidasu, Devadasu, Mayabazar, Missamma, Dr. Chakravarthi, Ardhangi, Muga Manasulu, Dasara Bullodu, Prem Nagar and Premabhishekam. The film Premabhishekam directed by Dasari Narayana Rao is one of the biggest hits in Tollywood. It had an amazing 533 days run in Hyderabad City, which is still the highest run in a city for any Telugu movie. Premabhishekam is the only Telugu film to have run for 365+ days continuously.

Nageswara Rao has worked in several genres of films in his 78-year acting career, including mythological, social, and drama films. Nageswara Rao has been active in the Telugu film industry since 1941 and is the recipient of the Dada Saheb Phalke Award, the highest award for films in India. He received in 1996 the NTR National Award.He is also a recipient of Padmashri, Padmabhushan and Padma Vibhushan awards and Filmfare Best Actor Award (Telugu).

Star Portrait-Naga Chaitanya

Naga Chaitanya is an upcoming Tollywood actor who was born and brought up in film based family.He was born on November 23rd, 1986 in Hyderabad to actor Akkineni Nagarjuna and his first wife,Lakshmi Daggubati. However his parents split before his first birthday, and subsequently. He was in Hyderabad but moved to Chennai with his mother after his parents split. Nagarjuna married to his co-star Amala, they also had another son Akhil Akkineni, who played the lead role in “Sisindri” as a two year old. Naga Chaitanya received schooling at the PSBB School in Chennai, during which period he often visited his father in Hyderabad.

He played the guitar and drums occasionally for the PSBB school band. He was then sent to an acting school in Mumbai, and subsequently to Hollywood Studios in California (USA) to learn dance and fights before he made his debut. He is also a huge automotive enthusiast and occasionally participates in organised motorsports even to date. Moreover, Naga Chaitanya's grandfather, Akkineni Nageswara Rao was one of thespians of Telugu cinema, with cousins Sumanth and Sushanth also being film actors. His maternal grandfather, D. Ramanaidu, is a famous producer in the film industry whilst his maternal uncle, Venkatesh is also one of Telugu cinema's biggest actors.

 Naga Chaitanya initially did not want to become an actor,but had a sudden change of mind, which resulted in his parents sending him to an acting school in Mumbai and then to Hollywood to learn dancing and fighting, before he made his debut. He made his film debut with “Josh” in 2009 and after his continuing his josh in industry.

Film Career

Following the legacy led by his family in films, Naga Chaitanya's debut was widely anticipated. After several rumours regarding his debut, during the audio launch of his father's King, Chaitanya was introduced to the film world and there his debut film was launched “Josh” directed by newcomer Vasu Varma and produced by Dil Raju pairs him opposite a fellow debutant and child of an actress, Karthika Nair, the daughter of Radha. This film secured him Filmfare Best Male Debut Award for South Indian films.  Prior to the release of his first film, he signed up for his second film “Ye Maaya Chesave” with Indira Poductions, which is to be directed by Gautham Menon and music will be given by Oscar Winner A.R.Rahman. This film received critical acclaim and created a sensation at box office collections.

This film unanimous positive reviews with the film being dubbed as a classic by reviewers, with comparisons drawn to his father's romantic film, Mani Ratnam's “Geethanjali”. Critics also praised his on-screen chemistry with debutant actress Samantha, as the film went on to become a commercial success at the box-office. This was the Telugu version of the Tamil film, “Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya”. He also made a cameo appearance in the Tamil version too. His next movie was Sukumar's “100% Love” which was released in 2011 with Tamanna has gained success in the box office. His next movie “Dhada” with Kajal Aggarwal directed Ajay Bhuyan released in same year with huge expectations was a failure. His next movie is “Bejawada” produced by Ram Gopal Varma. This movie released in the same year and received negative feedback.

His recent release “Thadaka” which is a remake of Tamil movie “Vettai” has acquired a mixed response and running successfully at box office.  Naga Chaitanya is currently working with the Director Deva Katta' for the
movie “Autonagar Surya”. This movie stars Samantha who has already worked with Naga Chaitanya in “Ye Maaya Chesave”. Naga Chaitanya is often referred to as the youngest male actor in Telugu. 

Star Portrait-Nagarjuna

Akkineni Nagarjuna, who is often known as King Nagarjuna or Yuva Smarat Nagajuna or Nag, is one of the popular actor and a successful producer. He is the son of veteran actor, Akkineni Nageswara Rao, who is a very much respected actor having successfully done multiple films through the last two and half decades. Nagarjuna was born on 29 August 1959 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India to actor Nageswara Rao Akkineni and Annapurna Akkineni. The family later moved to Hyderabad where he attended the Hyderabad Public School and studied at Little Flower Junior College and B.E. from the College of Engineering, Guindy in Chennai. He completed M.S. in Automobile Engineering from Eastern Michigan University. Initially he married Lakshmi Ramanaidu Daggubati in 1984 and the couple were blessed with a son Naga Chaitanya who is also an upcoming hero in Tollywood. Later due some difference between couple they were divorced in the year 1990. After that he married to his co-star Amala. With Amala  Akkineni he has a son Akhil Akkineni who featured in Sisindri. Nag is close friend of the most popular heroine of bollywood and tollywood, Tabu.

Film Journey

Nagarjuna acted as a child artist in the 1967 Telugu film “Sudigundalu” directed by veteran Adurthi Subbarao. Years later he made his debut as a lead actor through the 1986 Telugu film “Vikram”. In 1988, he was starred in “Aakhari Poratam” directed by K. Raghavendra Rao where he was paired opposite Sridevi and Suhasini. In 1989, he was starred in the Maniratnam directed Romantic-drama, “Geethanjali” which became a major box-office success and was critically acclaimed. The film went on to win the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment in 1990. In 1996, Nagarjuna starred and produced “Ninne Pelladatha”, which was directed by Krishna Vamsi. The movie fetched a National Award for him by winning the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu. The next year, Nagarjuna acted in “Annamayya” where he portrayed the role of Annamacharya, a 15th-century Telugu singer and poet, won him his third Filmfare Best Actor Award and his first Nandi Award for Best Actor. His subsequent releases were “Nuvvu Vastavani”, “Ninne Premistha” and “Azad”. He starred in the romantic comedies such as “Santhosham”, “Manmadhudu”, and “Shivamani” as well. He produced “Satyam” in 2003, that starred his nephew Sumanth. In 2004, Nagarjuna had two releases “Nenunnanu” and “Mass”. In 2005, Nagarjuna acted in and produced “Super”. In 2006, he starred in “Sri Ramadasu”, his second period film based on the 18th-century Telugu composer of the same name. Nagarjuna received the Nandi Award for Best actor for the film. In December 2007, he appeared in “Don” and a year later, he appeared in “King” alongside Trisha Krishnan and Srihari. In the year 2010, he had releases such as “Kedi” and “Ragada”. Later he appeared in “Gaganam” was released in 2011. Next his film released in row “Rajanna”, “Damarukam” and “Shirdi Sai”. He recently release “Greeku Veerudu” also proved his romantic hero images once again.

Business and Production House Journey

Nagarjuna revived his father's production Annapurna Studios which has become one of the most successful production companies of recent times in Tollywood. He never hesitates to do experiment when he produces films. He gave a chance to a newcomer who had no prior experience in movies to direct him. The newcomer didn't disappoint him and went on to become one of the finest directors of Indian film industry. The director is none other than RamGopal Verma. Nagarjuna is also known for his swiftness in decision making. He agreed to work with Krishna Vamsi(director) after seeing 10-minute-rushes of the director's film “Gulabi”. His decision proved to be bang on target as they made the blockbuster movie “Ninne Pelladutha”. Nagarjuna owns several restaurants in India and abroad and often visits them on a regular basis. Nagarjuna is investing close to 87 crores in real estate projects in Dubai. He is planning to team up with SRK to build a national level power project in Hyderabad. Nagarjuna is a close friend to the business tycoon Anil Ambani. While working on Khuda Gawah in Afganisthan, Nagarjuna fell in love with the region so much that he bought a huge property there and wanted to build a film studio, but later sold the property after the 9/11 attacks. Nagarjuna made his début as a television producer in 2009 with the serial “Yuva”. He is one of the major shareholders of the television channel Maa TV.

Social Service

Nagarjuna, with his wife Amala, is the co-founder of Blue Cross of Hyderabad a non-government organization (NGO) in Hyderabad, India, which works towards the welfare of animals and preservation of animal rights. He is also involved in some of the welfare programs undertaken by the MAA TV association. In 2010, he starred in an HIV/AIDS animated software tutorial created by TeachAIDS, a nonprofits founded at Stanford University.

Awards and Honours

Here is the list of Awards he won,

 Vamsi Berkley Award-Vikram-1986

Bharathamuni-Geetanjali-1989

Andhrapradesh Cinegoers Award-Geetanjali-1989

 Vamsi Berkley Award-Shiva-1989

Cinema Express Award-Shiva-1989

 Film Fare Award-Shiva-1989

Akruthi Film Award-Ninne Pelladutha-1996

 Bangaru Nandi- Andhra Pradesh State Government

Award-Annamayya-1997

Bharathamuni Award-Annamayya-1997

Screen Videocon Award-Annamayya-1997

National Award- Central Government Special Jury Award-Annamayya-1997

Andhra Pradesh Film Journalists Association Award-Azad-2000

Bangaru Nandi- Andhra Pradesh State Government Award (Sharing with Sri.Chiranjeevi)-Santosham & Manmadhudu-2002