Anjali Devi (; 24 August 1927 – 13 January 2014) was an Indian actress, model and producer in

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

and

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

films. She was well known for her role as the Devi

Sita Sita (; ) also called as Janaki and Vaidehi is a Hindu goddess and the female protagonist of the Hindu epic, ''Ramayana''. She is the consort of Rama, the avatar of the god Vishnu, and is regarded as a form of Vishnu's consort, Lakshmi. She ...

in ''

Lava Kusa ''Lava Kusa'' (also spelled as ''Lava Kusha'') is a 1963 Indian Hindu mythological film directed by C. S. Rao and his father C. Pullayya. The film was scripted by Sadasivabrahmam, Samudrala Sr. along with C. S. Rao and C. Pullayya. The fil ...

'' as well as for the titular roles in movies like

Chenchu Lakshmi ''Chenchu Lakshmi'' is a 1958 Indian bilingual Telugu and Tamil language Hindu mythological film, produced and directed by B. A. Subba Rao. It stars Akkineni Nageswara Rao and Anjali Devi, with music composed by S. Rajeswara Rao. It was sim ...

, '' Suvarna Sundari'' and '' Anarkali''.

Early life

Anjali Devi was born in

Peddapuram Peddapuram is a town in the Kakinada district of Andhra Pradesh in South India. The town also forms a part of Godavari Urban Development Authority. Peddapuram is known for its milk based sweet called PalaKova. The town is also popular in manufac ...

East Godavari East Godavari is a district in the Coastal Andhra region of Andhra Pradesh, India. Its district headquarters is at Rajahmundry. As of census 2011, it became the most populous district of the state with a population of 5,151,549. In the Madras Pre ...

district in

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

, India, as Anjamma. She changed her name to Anjani Kumari when acting in dramas. Later, director C. Pullaiah changed her name to Anjali Devi.

Career

As actress

She was a theatre artiste before venturing into movies, her debut film role was as Lohitasva in "''Raja Harishchandra"'' in 1936. Her first film as a heroine was ''Kashtajeevi'' by

L. V. Prasad Akkineni Laxmi Vara Prasada Rao (17 January 1907 – 22 June 1994), known professionally as L. V. Prasad, was an Indian film director, producer, actor, and businessman. He was one of the pioneers of Indian cinema and is the recipient of the Dad ...

in 1940, but that film was abandoned after three reels shooting. Later, C.Pullayya discovered her and gave her the opportunity to star as Mohini in '' Gollabhama'' (1947). Based on her acting ability and looks, she became a star overnight in 1947. She eventually acted in more than 350 films, majority of them in

films and a few in

Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

, Tamil and

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

films as the heroine or in character roles. She acted in ''

'', a milestone film and the first color film in the Telugu film industry in 1963. She is well known for playing Sita in ''Lava Kusa'' and her performances in films like ''Suvarna Sundari'' and ''Anarkali'' were also appreciated. ''

Brundavanam ''Brundavanam'' is a 1992 Indian Telugu-language comedy film co-written and directed by Singeetam Srinivasa Rao. It stars Rajendra Prasad and Ramya Krishna, with music composed by Madhavapeddi Suresh. The film was produced by B. Venkatarama R ...

'' (1992), ''Anna Vadina'' (1993) and ''Police Alludu'' (1994) were the last few films of her career. In Balaiah's ''Police Alludu'' and ''Anna Vadina'' she appeared alongside Brahmanandam. She acted in various roles, such as a damsel, an angel, a dancer, a demon, a goddess, a traditional woman and later in mother roles.

As producer

In 1955 she produced the film '' Anarkali'', in which she herself played the titular role, with

Akkineni Nageswara Rao Akkineni Nageswara Rao (20 September 1923 – 22 January 2014), widely known as ANR, was an Indian actor and producer, known for his works majorly in Telugu cinema. He starred in many landmark films in his seventy five-year career, and became on ...

Prince Salim Nur-ud-Din Muhammad Salim (30 August 1569 – 28 October 1627), known by his imperial name Jahangir (; ), was the fourth Mughal Emperor, who ruled from 1605 until he died in 1627. He was named after the Indian Sufi saint, Salim Chishti. Ear ...

. Then she produced V. Madhusudan Rao's ''Bhakta Tukaram'' and ''Chandipriya''. Bollywood and Tollywood actress Jayapradha played the lead role in the latter alongside

Sobhan Babu Sobhan Babu (born Uppu Sobhana Chalapathi Rao; 14 January 1937 – 20 March 2008) was an Indian actor known for his works in Telugu cinema.Bangaru Panjaram in Venditera Paatalu, Krishnasastri Sahityam, third volume, Vishalandhra Publishing House ...

and

Chiranjeevi Chiranjeevi (born Konidela Sivasankara Varaprasad; 22 August 1955) is an Indian actor, film producer and former politician, who predominantly works in Telugu cinema. Chiranjeevi starred in over 150 feature films in Telugu, as well as some fil ...

. As a producer she has produced 27 films. An ardent devotee of Sri Sathya Sai Baba she produced and acted in Shirdi Sai Parthi Sai Divyakatha, a tele-serial on the life and avatar of Sri Sathya Sai Baba. This was also the first screen appearance of

Vijay Devarakonda Deverakonda Vijay Sai (born 9 May 1989), better known as Vijay Deverakonda, is an Indian actor and film producer who works predominantly in Telugu cinema. He is the recipient of a Filmfare Awards South, Filmfare Award, a Nandi Awards, Nandi Awa ...

, then a student of class 3 at Sri Sathya Sai Primary School,

Puttaparthi Puttaparthi ( IAST: ''Puṭṭaparthy'') is a municipality and district headquarters of Sri Sathya Sai district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is located in Puttaparthi mandal of Puttaparthi revenue division. The original name of P ...

in 1997.

Personal life

She married P. Adinarayana Rao, a music director, in 1948. They settled in

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

. They have two sons. Together, they produced many Telugu films under the banner, Anjali Pictures. Their granddaughter, Saila Rao, is also an actress.

Death

Devi died at the age of 86 on 13 January 2014 at Vijaya Hospital, in Chennai, due to a

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. It is a medical emergency that, without immediate medical intervention, will result in sudden cardiac death within minutes. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and poss ...

. Her organs were donated to Ramachandra Medical College.

Awards

Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu The Filmfare Best Actress Award is given by the ''Filmfare'' magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards South for Telugu films. The awards were extended to "Best Actress" in 1972. Film world, p 43 The year indicates the year of release o ...

– '' Anarkali'' (1955) * Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu – ''

'' (1958) * Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu – ''

'' (1963) *

Honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

from

Nagarjuna University Acharya Nagarjuna University ( IAST: ''Ācārya Nāgārjuna Vișvavidyālaya'') is a state university in Namburu, Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh, India. History The university was established as Nagarjuna University by Act 43 of 1976 of A ...

, Guntur. *

Raghupathi Venkaiah Award The Raghupathi Venkaiah Naidu Award is an award issued by the Indian state government of Andhra Pradesh, to recognise lifetime achievements in Telugu cinema. The award was introduced in 1981 in honour of Raghupathi Venkaiah Naidu, a pioneer of t ...

in 1994 for her lifetime service to the

Telugu film industry Telugu cinema, also known as Tollywood, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Telugu language, widely spoken in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Telugu cinema is based in Film Nagar, Hy ...

. * Ramineni National Award in 2006 in the fine arts category. * ANR National Award in 2008. *

Tamil Nadu State Film Honorary Award The Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Honorary Award given by the ''Tamil Nadu State Government'' as part of its annual Tamil Nadu State Film Awards for Tamil cinema personalities who contributed in developing the Tamil cinema in India. Arignar A ...

– Arignar Anna Award in 2000 * Padmabhushan Dr. B. Saroja Devi National Award in 2010 by ''Bharathiya Vidya Bhavan'', Bangalore.http://www.uniindia.com/multi-lingual-actress-jayanti-wins-b-saroja-devi-national-award/states/news/834469.html

Filmography

Actress

Producer

* ''Paradesi'' * '' Suvarna Sundari'' * ''Swarnamanjari'' * ''Chandi Priya'' * ''Sati Sakkubai'' * ''Shirdi Sai Sathya Sai Divya Katha'' (television series) * Anarkali

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Devi, Anjali 1927 births 2014 deaths Telugu film producers Indian film actresses Indian women film producers Film producers from Andhra Pradesh Recipients of the Rashtrapati Award Actresses in Telugu cinema Actresses in Hindi cinema Actresses in Tamil cinema 20th-century Indian actresses People from East Godavari district Actresses from Andhra Pradesh Tamil film producers 20th-century Indian businesspeople 20th-century Indian businesswomen Businesswomen from Andhra Pradesh