Senior actress Anjali Devi aka Anjali Kumari is no more. The actress died at Vijaya hospital in Chennai today (January 13, 2014). Born on 24 August, 1927, the 86 year old renowed actress is well known to the Telugu audience as Sita in the mythological movie ‘Lava Kusha’. She hails from Peddapuram, East Godavari district in Andhra Pradesh. Final rituals of the actress will be held on Wednesday. Her body will be kept in Ramachandra Hospital to remove her organs as she donated.
Anjali Devi started her acting career as a theater artist and later entered the movie industry in 1936 with the movie ‘Raja Harishchandra’. She acted in more than 350 Telugu films and 11 Tamil fims apart from acting in Kannada and Hindi languages. Some of her ever green films are ‘Keelu Gurram’, ‘Palleturi Pilla’, ‘Gollabhama’, ‘Anarkali’, ‘Jayabheri’, ‘Suvarna Sundari’, ‘Lava Kusha’, ‘Chandi Priya’, ‘Mayalamaari’, ‘Bhale Krishnudu’, ‘Sati Sakkubai’, ‘Panduranga Mahatyam’, ‘Chenchu Lakshmi’, ‘Balaraju’, ‘Palnati Yuddam’, ‘Rangula Ratnam’, ‘Bhakta Prahlada’, ‘Badi Pantulu’, ‘Tata Manavadu’, ‘Bhakta Tukaram’, ‘Batti Vikramarka’, ‘Allauddin Adhbhuta Deepam’, ‘Jeevana Tarangalu’, ‘Paapam Pasivadu’, ‘Ram Robert Rahim’’Sri Shirdi Saibaba Mahatyam’, etc. Anjali Devi’s last film was ‘Big Boss’ in 1995.
Anjali Devi is married to a music director P Adinarayana Rao in 1940 and has two sons. The couple established a banner called Anjali Pictures and produced several 27 films that include ‘Anarkali’ (with herself as heroine alongside Akkineni Nageswara Rao), ‘Bhakta Tukaram’, ‘Sati Sakkubhai’ and ‘Chandipriya’. The veteran actress was honoured with Filmfare Awards for Best Actress for her performances in ‘Anarkali’, ‘Suvarna Sundari’, ‘Chenchu Lakshmi’ and ‘Jayabheri’. She also received Raghupathi Venkaiah Award in 2005, Ramineni Award in 2006 and ANR National Award in 2008. Another great loss to Telugu Film Industry! Ragalahari prays for Anjali Devi’s soul to Rest in Peace.
