The US Postal Service is going honor legendary Tollywood actor late Akkineni Nageswarara Rao by issuing a postage stamp on his birthday. "It is a rare honor and is the first time that an Indian actor has been accorded this honour," read a note issued by the Akkineni Foundation of America (AFA). The postal stamp will be released in a grand ceremony to be held in Dallas, Texas on September 20th, on Dr. ANR's Birthday to mark this tribute.
The celebrated actor won the hearts of millions of movie lovers was one of the leading matinee idol's of India who wowed the audiences with stellar performances in films between 50's to 80's. He also played pioneering role in relocating the Telugu film industry to Hyderabad.
AFA also plans to release the stamp in India at the first "International Akkineni Awards Ceremony" in the presence of ANR family members. The event hosted by AFA will be held on December 17th, 2014 at ANR College, Gudivada, Krishna district, Andhra Pradesh.
"It's is a rare honour and the first time in the history of the USA that an Indian movie actor getting this recognition. We are thankful to USPS for consenting to our request to issue this postal stamp in remembrance of Dr. Akkineni Nageswara Rao", Dr.Prasad Thotakura, AFA President said.
"I am deeply touched and so are other members of the Akkineni family by the issuance of this postage stamp, and I am deeply grateful to USPS for conferring one of America's highest honors to my father Akkineni Nageswara Rao" the legendary actor's son Nagarjuna Akkineni said. "While my father has been cited many times as being among the most adored artiste of all time, the recognition in his being portrayed on a U.S. postage stamp will rank as a great honor. It is certainly a big tribute to Indian cinema and our culture."
Combining influences from theatre era and the contemporary cinema performances with his own innovations, Dr. Akkineni Nageswara Rao helped establish tremendous versatility in films — and in doing so, left behind an unforgettable mark on cinema across the globe that will always be remembered for generations to come.
Akkineni made his debut in films playing the lead actor's friend in the Tamil-Telugu Bilingual 'Dharmapatni' in the year 1941. He was 17 at the time. He was noticed for his performance in folklore based movies and eventually got his first break for the 1950 movie 'Samsaram'. As an actor ANR has played a variety of roles ranging from a charming prince to a valiant soldier to a holy saint, and from a college student to a calm government officer. In mythological role he was a inspiring.
Akkineni Nageswara Rao was honoured with a number of awards including 3 Filmfares, PadmaVibhushan, Dada Saheb Palke Award, Nandi Award, Kalaimamani and Life time Achievement Awardfrom Telugu Association of North America.
ANR has acted in over 255 films in Telugu, Tamil and Hindi. A majority of his films were both commercial and critical successes. Apart from being a movie star, ANR was a prolific writer. Some of his prominent books include his autobiographical work, Nenu Na Jeevitham, the memoirs of his first visit to the USA, Nenu Choosina America, and the expression of his thoughts in his book, A Aalu.
ANR 's final movie project was Manam that saw three generations of the Akkineni family including himself, his son Nagarjuna and grandsons Naga Chaitanya, Akhil in it. The movie is the biggest success of year 2014. The iconic actor bid adieu to the world on Jan 22.
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