Akkineni Nageswara Rao

Akkineni Nageswara Rao (20 September 1923 – 22 January 2014) was an Indian film actor and producer, predominantly in Telugu cinema.

He starred in several films of various genres during his 75-year acting career and came to be known as one of the two pillars of Telugu cinema along with N.T. Rama Rao.

He acted in over 255 films, spanning the Telugu, Tamil and Hindi languages and became of the most prominent figures in the history of Telugu cinema.

He was instrumental in shifting the base of Telugu Cinema from Madras, Tamil Nadu to Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh in 1974.

With an aim to provide infrastructural support to the film industry in Hyderabad, he built a film studio, Annapurna Studios, in 1975. He founded a film and media school, Annapurna International School of Film and Media within Annapurna Studios in 2011.

Nageswara Rao won two Andhra Pradesh state Nandi Awards for Best Actor, three South Filmfare Awards for during his acting career. He is a recipient of the Dada Saheb Phalke Award, the highest individual lifetime achievement award for films in India. He was honored with the Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian award, for his contribution towards Indian cinema.