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

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

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

Sita Sita (; ), also known as Siya, Jānaki and Maithili, is a Hindu goddess and the female protagonist of the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. Sita is the consort of Rama, the avatar of god Vishnu, and is regarded as an avatar of goddess Lakshmi. She is t ...

in '' Lava Kusa'' as well as for the title roles in movies like Chenchu Lakshmi, ''

Suvarna Sundari ''Suvarna Sundari'' () is a 1957 Indian Telugu language, Telugu-language swashbuckler film directed by Vedantam Raghavayya. It stars Anjali Devi and Akkineni Nageswara Rao (credited as Nageswara Rao) with music composed by P. Adinarayana Rao. Th ...

'' and '' Anarkali''.

Early life

Anjali Devi was born in Peddapuram, East Godavari district in

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

, 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 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 Telugu and

films and a few in

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...

films as the heroine or in character roles. She acted in '' Lava Kusa'', 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'' (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 title role, with Akkineni Nageswara Rao as Prince Salim. Then she produced V. Madhusudan Rao's ''Bhakta Tukaram'' and ''Chandipriya''. Actress Jayapradha played the lead role in the latter alongside Sobhan Babu and Chiranjeevi. 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.

Personal life

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

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

. 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 (also known as sudden cardiac arrest CA is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. When the heart stops beating, blood cannot properly Circulatory system, circulate around the body and the blood flow to the ...

. Her organs were donated to Ramachandra Medical College.

Awards

* Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu – '' Anarkali'' (1955) * Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu – '' Chenchu Lakshmi'' (1958) * Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu – '' Lava Kusa'' (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,

Guntur Guntur (), natively spelt as Gunturu, is a city in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of Guntur district. The city is part of the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region and is lo ...

. * Raghupathi Venkaiah Award in 1994 for her lifetime service to the Telugu film industry. * Ramineni National Award in 2006 in the fine arts category. * ANR National Award in 2008. * Tamil Nadu State Film Honorary Award – Arignar Anna Award in 2000 * Padmabhushan Dr. B. Saroja Devi National Award in 2010 by ''Bharathiya Vidya Bhavan'', Bangalore.

Filmography

Actress

Producer

* ''Paradesi'' * ''

'' * ''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 Actors from East Godavari district Actresses from Andhra Pradesh Tamil film producers 20th-century Indian businesspeople 20th-century Indian businesswomen Businesspeople from Andhra Pradesh Telugu women film directors Telugu film directors