ANR 100 – lets pay tribute to the landmark film of Akkineni Nageswara Rao that saw amazing success and stands testimony to legendary artists & technicians of Telugu film industry. No one believed in Devadasu – Producers gave up, hero was known for folk films and had a flop with his previous film, heroine was hardly known and too young to play the lead of such an intense story. But the one producer who decided to stay with the film remained confident – and now we have a classic on our hands – Akkineni Nageswara Rao’s earliest film that established him as a hero with versatility Devadasu is now re released on the ocassion of ANR centenary celebrations – ANR 100
Written by Rajeshwari Kalyanam
Devadasu – Bengali novel by Sarat written over 100 years was adapted as a movie more than a few times across India with Dilip Kumar in 40s to Shahrukh Khan in 2002 playing the lead. In Telugu it was made twice – but by far the 1953 version remains the classic with even Dilip Kumar who is said to have praised the film saying there is no Devadasu other than ANR.
In 1953 Devadasu was made in Telugu with Akkineni Nageswara Rao, who was until then a folk hero with films like Keelugurram and a not so successful film of the time Laila Majnu, cast along with a fairly new and a very young actress Savitri.
None believed in it except the producer DL Narayana who stood by it when others gave up. Legendary Vedantam Raghavayya – directed the film. CR Subbaraman composed the songs – that were a hit – each one of them – then the screenplay by Chakrapani, dialogues by Senior Samudrala and Cinematography by BS Ranga – last but very important for the film – the background score by the famous duo MS Viswanathan and TS Ramamoorthy – the film had a sound technical team backed by brilliant performances and much to the delight of the makers the film turned out to be a huge success.
The film Devadasu contributed hugely to the careers of the lead pair Akkineni Nageswara Rao – ANR & Savitri and remains a masterpiece that is being celebrated on the ocassion of the centenary celebrations of the actor who made over 255 films spanning a seven decade long career.
Today it stands testimony to the legends we have had in our Telugu Film Industry. As we remember the film on the ocassion of ANR 100 – the centenary celebrations of the legendary actor & pay tribute to our beloved ANR, we salute to the entire cast & crew who made the film a classic.
