This year, the ANR award would be presented to Anjali Devi at a ceremony on January 13. This was announced by Venkat Akkineni.
He said that Anjali Devi was their neighbour in Chennai and felt happy that the award went to her this year. ANR too was happy that Anjali Devi was the first Telugu artiste to get the award as she had acted with him in 50 films out of his 254 films.
Chief Minister Dr Y S Rajasekhara Reddy will give away the award as part of the Sankranti celebrations.
Anjali Devi who debuted with Gollabhama went on to act in nearly 400 films. She also produced films along with her husband Adiseshagiri Rao.