ANR International Film Award to K Balachander

Akkineni International Award is given every year on the name of Dada Saheb Phalke award winner Dr Akkineni Nageswara Rao to one of the top film personalities for their outstanding contribution to the Indian Cinema. In this line the prestigious award for the year 2010 will be given to veteran director K Balachander. To brief the details about the award a press meet was organized at Annapurna Studios in Hyderabad for which Akkineni Nageswara Rao and Akkineni International Foundation Chairman T Subbarami Reddy participated.

Speaking to the media T Subbarami Reddy said, “This award was launched 5 years ago by Akkineni Nageswara Rao garu. So far we have not come across any actor who presents awards in this manner. This award has been presented to highly talented film personalities only. Hence the award has become more prestigious. I’m proud to be the chairman of this foundation. It’s Nageswara Rao gari’s wish that this award should continue for generations. This year we have decided to give to the Tamil director K Balachander who introduce many top stars in the movie industry. This being a National Award, we are honoring him with this award since he had received many national awards. The award function will be held at Shilpa Kala Vedika on January 11. The award function will be attended by chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy, Veerappa Moily and Indian Idol Sreeram Chandra.”

Dr Akkineni Nageswara Rao said, “My idea to give this award was when I received the Dada Saheb Phalke award in 1991. We are following the rules that is being implemented by Dada Saheb Phalke Award. Any talent from 24 frames is eligible for this award. The amount I earned for 15 years, the amount given by my friends and Rs 1 lakh that I received from Dada Saheb Phalke Award put together I collected Rs 1 crore. We are also planning to increase the prize money on par with Dada Saheb Phalke Award foundation which is presently giving Rs 10 lakhs. I wish my next generations will continue to give this award and I’m confident about that since God blessed me with good children. There is immense satisfaction in creating such award. Awards give recognition to the talent. At the time I entered into films there were no awards. ‘Devadas’ was released in 1953 and the awards began in the year 1954. I consider myself lucky to enter this field and associate with various people. I’m not closely associated with Balachander garu. But I’m aware of his talent. He created many talented heroes and directed many good films. He is a legendary director in Tamil."

He concluded his speech by saying that his elder son Venkat could not attend this programme due to his ill health and younger son Nagarjuna is presently in Mumbai.