Akkineni Nageswara Rao, the father of actor Nagarjuna and a Telugu cinema legend, celebrated his 100th birthday this year.
In Hyderabad on Monday, South star Chiranjeevi received the esteemed Akkineni Nageswara Rao (ANR) National Award. Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan congratulated the actor. The award was created in 2005 by the Akkineni International Foundation to honor artists who have made exceptional contributions to Indian cinema. Akkineni Nageswara Rao, the father of actor Nagarjuna and a Telugu cinema legend, celebrated his 100th birthday this year. Amitabh Bachchan honored Chiranjeevi with a shawl and a trophy in an event video.
A very tearful Chiranjeevi knelt before Big B and touched his feet to receive his blessings. Chiranjeevi posed for a picture with Amitabh Bachchan and Nagarjuna Akkineni after accepting the award.
Several prominent members of the Telugu film industry attended the ANR National Award ceremony, which was hosted by Nagarjuna. ANR’s 100th birthday was celebrated with the participation of numerous actors, including Nani, Brahmanandam, Ram Charan, Prakash Raj, and Ramya Krishnan. The event was also attended by Naga Chaitanya and his fiancée, Sobhita Dhulipala.
Nagarjuna used X (formerly Twitter) to announce the annual ANR National Awards earlier this month. He wrote: “This year is particularly noteworthy because we are commemorating my father, ANR Garu, turning 100 years old! To commemorate this milestone, we are honored to invite Megastar @KChiruTweets garu and @SrBachchan ji to the ANR Awards 2024! Let’s make this award ceremony one to remember! #ANRLivesOn #ANRNationalAward #ANR100Years @AnnapurnaStdios.
The last time Sridevi and Rekha received the ANR National Awards, it was at a ceremony in November 2019. Hema Malini, Shyam Benegal, Sridevi B. Kapoor, Shabana Azmi, Anjali Devi, Vyjayantimala Bali, Hema Bachchan, Lata Mangeshkar, SS Rajamouli, and K. Balachander were the previous recipients of the award. The first recipient of the ANR National Award was the late Bollywood actor-director Dev Anand.