A Phenomenon Called ANR

was born into a middleclass farming family of the village Venkata Raghavapuram  of Krishna delta as the  youngest son of  Shri Akkineni Venkatratnam and Smt Punnamma on 20 September 1924 … joined a primary school but said to have stopped his education at the primary school level itself owing to economic status of the family, joined a local drama troop … acted as a child artiste making money at that very young age itself … quite often acted as a girl-child that was perhaps made easy by virtue of his mother often dressing him up as a girl-child to mock the fact of her being blessed with only sons … by the age of sixteen, it seems he specialized in portraying female characters on stage … and indeed travelling to places along with the seniors to perform plays all along the coastal towns…

and in one such return journey from Tenali after enacting a female role in a play in the previous night … as he got down at Vijayawada station … and walking along the platform, luck patted on his shoulder … as a prominent film producer of the time, Ghantasala Balaramaiah, sitting in a train bound to Madras, having seen the shy boy walk behind his troop’s senior members called him and enquired if he would be interested in acting in a film … and do you think he had the wherewithal to give a right answer to that? … but he was not the one to forego such a God-sent opportunity … grabbed it with his whole heart—boarded the Madras-bound train to encash his luck … at the age of sixteen— this village lad, who knew only paddy-fields and flowing canals, and a few dialogues from the mythological dramas that he had acted in, besides of course lots of slang in Telugu … suddenly found himself amidst trams, cars , big buildings … and particularly … people talking and behaving differently from the people he had lived with till then … said to be particularly missing that rustic rural slang … and yet, without  losing his nerves … acted in the film Dharmapatni … again you know as what … as a female character…

and thus began a journey—a historic journey, indeed— of an uneducated youth from rural surroundings to a tinsel world … where he, starting as Lord Rama, in Seeta Rama Jananam … acted as hero in several films of various genres —and went on turning out several hits such as Balaraju, Keelugurram, Laila Majnu, Anarkali, Samsaram, Ardhangi, Dongaramudu, Rojulumaraayi, Chenchu Lakshmi, Thodukodallu, Illarikam, Mangalyabalam,  Suvarnasundari, Shantinivasam, Bharya Bhartalu, Veluguneedalu … Batasari …  Uh! how many to list! … acted almost in more than 200 films … of which of course Devadasu merits special mention, for he earned many accolades for his role as Devadasu from his own fellow actors … to this day people cherish his acting in Devadasu which made the Telugu film-goers to name him a Tragedy-king…

and what a professional clarity! incredulously steered himself through  the competition —competition from a fellow hero who had been gifted with chiseled features, resonating voice and all those qualities that simply make one look cinematic—and carved a permanent place for himself not only in the cine-field but also in the hearts of Telugu cine-goers…for ages to come…

but interestingly, this unlettered village lad-turned-great actor in Telugu Cine world proclaimed himself an atheist … didn’t believe in God and all that … yet gave some of the memorable performances as an  ardent devotee of God in films like Vipranarayana,  Bhakata Jayadeva, Bhakta Tukaram … and so on … that’s not what’s most amazing about him … but it’s the incredible ability that he displayed in acquiring knowledge in the course of his cine-journey that was sufficient enough to cultivate such rational ideas of his own … of becoming a non-theist and laying his own path for his progression into newer realms … an incredulous accomplishment! 

in the process, he became a producer, studio-owner and father of successful progeny and importantly,  a man of fine taste … inside and outside the film world he was one man who was to be watched for his esthetics, for his oratory skills and conduct in public or private…

all others, like his winning many awards … of even highest order … making money … playing a critical role in shifting the base of the Telugu cine industry from Madras to Hyderabad, constructing a well-equipped studio,  acting in movies till his last days … all pale before his maintaining that immaculate heath till his 90^th birthday …  and true to his spirit even when he was diagnosed with cancer … he didn’t lose heart … came out cheerfully before the press and announced about his ill-health and pleaded with his fans not to get worried about it… 

making money, investing wisely, and maintaining one’s status is one thing … but having a happy family, caring for one’s wife till her last breath as if serving a goddess, having successful and doting children … standing before a mike and articulating one’s ideas intelligently, holding his audience in rapt attention almost till his death, is another thing … that’s really phenomenal … That’s ANR … 

i don’t feel sad for him, for i don’t want to do a disservice to that Phenomenon—a phenomenon that proved to the world that given an opportunity, a man, no matter what his/her background is, if he applies himself fully, can become what he wants to become; can achieve what he aspires for … i only salute that Phenomenon … that Akkineni Nageswara Rao…  

Keywords: Akkineni, Akkineni Nageswara Rao, ANR