Anjali Devi no more

Hyderabad: South Indian film industry, especially Tollywood, suffered an irreparable loss on Monday as yesteryears’ top heroine and a towering film personality Anjali Devi passed away at the age of 86 in Chennai. She was admitted to Vijaya Hospital four days ago for heart ailments. She is survived by two sons.

Anjali Devi’s popularity was such that she would command higher remuneration than top heroes of the day. She acted in around 350 Telugu, Tamil and Kannada movies. She also produced several hit movies like ‘Anarkali,’ ‘Paradesi’ and ‘Suvarna Sundari’ under the banner of Anjali Pictures. She also acted in Tamil movies - "Niraparadhi, Sarvadhikari etc and Hindi movies – Devata, Sri Ram Vanvas etc.

Wife of music director, producer and lyricist P Adinarayana Rao, she ruled the Telugu industry till the advent of younger stars like Savitri Devi and Jamuna. She gradually limited her roles to that of mother and mother-in-law. She is best remembered for portraying the mythological role of Goddess Sita Devi in Lava Kusha, the first Telugu colour film.

Memorable roles came her way in a number of films like ‘Bhakta Prahlada,’ ‘Sati Sakkubai,’ ‘Sri Lakshmamma’ ‘Bhakta Tukaram’ and ‘Badi Pantulu’ She was born on August 24, 1927, in Peddapuram. Her original name was Anjani Kumar.

She was a well-known stage artiste before she moved along with her husband to Chennai for pursuing music director role for her husband. She initially donned roles of a vamp until famous director C Pullaiah gave her a heroine chance in ANR-starred ‘Balaraju.’ He also rechristened her as Anjali Devi. She was a recipient of Filmfare Award several times for Best Actress. She was honoured by the Andhra Pradesh government with Raghupathi Venkaiah Award in 2005.

Union Minister for Tourism Dr K Chiranjeevi expressed his profound grief at the demise of yesteryear Telugu Actress Anjali Devi on Monday. The sudden passing away of Anjali Devi, who achieved many milestones in her illustrious career, would be a big loss to the entire Telugu Film Industry, he said.

The union minister further stated that he had acted in a film (Chandipriya) made by the actress's production house very early in his film career.

TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu expressed his deepest condolences over the demise of Anjali Devi. Because of her unparalled performances in devotional films, she was often referred to as 'Sita Devi' of the silver screen. The fact that many prestigious awards adorned the living room of her house goes on to prove how talented actor she was, he felt.

Meanwhile, Minister for information & public relations and cinematography D K Aruna stated that Anjali Devi had left an indelible mark in Telugu cinema by her effortless portrayal of many challenging roles in her career. Lava Kusa, Anarkali, Suvarna Sundari and Keelu Gurram are one of the many films where her acting talent fetched accolades and awards, the minister said.