It is not just one or two. He played hero in over 254 films as hero and gave a new definition to the word performance / acting through his indomitable and inimitable performance. He is none other than Nata Samrat, Dr Akkineni Nageswara Rao.
He was born in a poor farmers' family and studied up to Class V only. However, he became a hero and heartthrob to lakhs of Telugu-speaking people by playing in films for over 66 years. He left an indelible impression in the hearts of Telugu audiences who fondly call him as a mobile encyclopaedia for acting and also a dictionary for performance. In fact, he is an ocean of performance.
His debut film hit the screen in 1944. Right from that date till the Sriramadasu which was released in 2007, he played different roles and it is not an exaggeration that there is no role which he left untouched. He worked with three generations of artistes and is ready to act with the fourth generation if time and industry permits. He is an acting soldier. Like some elderly man commented, 'Nageswara Rao is a born artiste!' The right example for his performance capabilities is 'Devadas', a Bengali novel scripted by Sarat, which took shape on celluloid under the direction of Vedantam Raghavaiah, in which Nageswara Rao played the title role and with Savitri playing the female lead.
After that, 'Devadas' was remade for 14 times in various languages. While Saigal played as Devadas in Hindi once, Dilip Kumar played the role again in Hindi. Sivaji Ganeshan portrayed the role in Tamil. All those heroes are great performers in their respective languages. But they personally admitted that they were not able to reach the performance capabilities of Akkineni Nageswara Rao.
When someone raises the topic of 'Devadas', it would be Akkineni Nageswara Rao, who would be remembered for ages. They also confessed that they were not able to do justice at least for 25 per cent of what was done by Akkineni Nageswara Rao. This amply proves his ability to perform on the celluloid. Though several artistes played the role earlier, and those who are going to play the role in future, can't reach Akkineni's performance.
Not just 'Devadas', Akkineni's performance as a jinxed lover in 'Laila Majnu' along with Bhanumati is unmemorable. His performance as a devotee in 'Vipranarayana, Bhakta Jayadeva, Bhaka Tukaram, Mahakavi Kshetrayya' mesmerised the audiences. But ANR is basically an atheist and is a non-believer. But he strongly believe that duty is god and work is worship.
Akkineni's performance in 'Budhimantudu' in two roles which had two different shades as a drunkard younger brother and a devotional elder brother. It was Nageswara Rao who started a new trend in Telugu films. Earlier, heroes used to stand aside when the heroines performance dances during songs. But it was Akkineni who started dancing along with the heroines.
When compared to all his contemporary heroes, Akkineni is the shortest hero. For that matter, even the heroines who played opposite him were also a little longer than him. However, Nageswara Rao did not allow the audiences to notice the difference in the height with his impeccable performance. The Telugu audiences fondly call him as 'tragedy king'. It was Akkineni who could wet the eyes of audiences and make them cry, with himself not shedding even a single drop of water from his eye. With a whisky glass in one hand and a cigarette on his lips, the audiences might strongly believe that he is a drunkard and a chain smoker.
But, in real life, Akkineni doesn't have any kind of habit. It is not an exaggeration to say that no other artiste had so many melodies when compared to Akkineni. Almost all the films are musical hits. Leave alone the social dramas, his performance as an innocent shepherd in 'Mahakavi Kalidasu' and also as a litterateur after the presence of Kalika Mata is extraordinary.
The variation shown by him between the two roles is never before or never after and is like a textbook for the present day heroes. His comedy timing in 'Missamma' while learning music lessons from Savitri is also quite memorable. Many of his films including 'Tenali Ramakrishna, Ardhangi, Baatasari, Sudigundalu, Maro Prapancham, Navaratrulu, Dasara Bullodu, Prema Nagar, Premabhishekam, Mugamanasulu' remained classics.
To explain in detail about his acting capabilities and about films, one had to write a series of books and it could not be accommodated in just an essay. Akkineni Nageswara Rao had a perfect knowledge over the 24 crafts of the film industry. Despite perfect grip over the film industry, he did never venture into direction, but continued his journey to serve the film industry as an artiste, producer and as a studio owner.
He used to say that he knows what politics is and hence he is not entering into it. He started a college on his name as ANR College in Gudivada and is extending education to several poor students. In fact, he remained an inspiration for people like Mohanbabu to start educational institutions like 'Sri Vidya Mandir'.
This great artiste is celebrating his birthday on September 20.
On the occasion of his birthday, musicmazaa.com wishes him a very happy birthday.