ANR National Awards conferred to Sridevi, Rekha

Renowned Telugu actor Chiranjeevi presented the Akkineni Nageswara Rao (ANR) National Award to veteran actors Sridevi and Rekha at an event held at Annapurna Seven acres in Hyderabad today. Instituted by the Akkineni International Foundation, the award will be presented annually to the celebrities to honour their decades of contribution to Indian cinema.

In her acceptance speech, Rekha recalled her association with ANR and said she considered this honour from the Telugu film industry a homecoming. "Annapurna Studios is like my home production and it feels good to have received this honour alongside Sridevi, who was my little sister and an actor par excellence. I did a Telugu film titled Amma Kosam for my mother and now, I'm here to thank my other mother, Annapurna Studios."

The 65-year-old actor, who made her acting debut as a child artiste with the Telugu film Inti Guttu (1958), expressed her desire to stage a comeback in Telugu cinema. "I want to do a Telugu film soon. And to get the fluency in the language, I think, I have to hone my speaking skills so I can deliver dialogues effortlessly like Sridevi would," says Rekha.

Terming ANR an encyclopedia of acting, the chief guest of the evening, Chiranjeevi fondly shared, "He has been an inspiration to us all. My mother was an ardent admirer of ANR garu and I look up to him as my guru. I'm glad to have shared screen space with him in Mechanic Alludu (1993). I feel fortunate to present this prestigious award to legendary personalities like Rekha and Sridevi, who has gone too soon and made a lasting impact with her acting talent in our hearts today."

Industrialist T Subbarami Reddy, ANR's son and actor Nagarjuna Akkineni, and other members of the Akkineni family, and prominent members of the Indian film industry were present at the ceremony.