Friday marks the 100th birthday of legendary Telugu actor Akkineni Nageswara Rao. His legacy and imprint on cinema are celebrated with a special film festival across 21 cities in India by the Akkineni family. Nagarjuna wrote, “Celebrating 100 years of our father all over India.”

Classics from ANR’s filmography, such as Missamma, Devadasu, Premnagar, Gundamma Katha, Mayabazar and more, are getting rereleased across select theatres from September 20 to 22. The festival offers free entry on a first come, first served basis. The Akkineni family further adds that this is a great opportunity for fans and young cinephiles to relive the magic of ANR’s performances. 

ANR began his career in theatre, specialising on female characters because women were not allowed to act at the time. Ghantasala Balaramayya discovered ANR at Vijayawada train station, which marked a significant turning point in his career. Ghantasala offered ANR the lead role in Sri Seeta Rama Jananam, and there was no turning back for him from there. ANR appeared in 255 films in Telugu, Hindi, and Tamil languages. His supporters affectionately refer to him as "Natasamrat".