Akkineni International Award Presentation to K Balachander

Dr Akkineni Nageswara Rao award for the year 2010 has been given away to the veteran director K Balachander. The award function was held at Shilpa Kala Vedika in Hyderabad on the evening of January 11th. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nalla Kiran Kumar Reddy was the chief guest of the function. He garlanded K Balachander while T Subbarami Reddy felicitated him with the shawl. A cheque of Rs 5 lakhs was presented to him by Veerappa Moiley and the memento certificate was presented by Dr Akkineni Nageswara Rao. Later MAA TV also felicitated the great director Balachander. Other prominent figures in the function were Dr D Ramanaidu, MS Reddy, Akkineni Nagarjuna, Smt Amala, Smt Naga Suseela, Sumanth, Sushanth, Naga Chaitanya and Indian Idol Sri Ramachandra.

The function started with the soulful singing performance by the Indian Idol Sreeram and few other singers.

Later addressing the gathering Dr Akkineni Nageswara Rao said, “I’m happy to see Veerappa Moiley in this function who claims himself as my fan. Kiran Kumar Reddy is the youngest chief minister as far as I know. There is no politics without obstacles. Since he worked as a speaker he has more patience. I was given a cheque of Rs 1 lakh when I got this award in 1991. When I entered into films there were neither awards nor respect for the actors and actresses. The awards began only after my film ‘Devadas’ was released. I got the idea of this award on my name when I received the Dada Saheb Phalke Award. Hence I formed this trust and donated 50% of my earning to this trust which became Rs 1 crore today. Now I’m giving Rs 5 lakhs to this award. I started giving away the award from 2005 year onwards. While T Subbarami Reddy is the chairman of this committee, Dr D Ramanaidu, Boney Kapoor, my elder son Venkat, my daughter Suseela, Nagarjuna, my wife and I are the members of this committee. I believe that my grandsons will continue this tradition in the future. Only then will my soul rest in peace. I’m very proud to felicitate this award to the creative director who directed many class films in Tamil Nadu.”

Nagarjuna while speaking, “Films like ‘Anthuleni Katha’, ‘Aakali Rajyam’, ‘Maro Charitra’, ‘Ek Duje Ke Liya’ and ‘Rudraveena’ come into our mind when we think of K Balachander garu. His movies appear very simple but make us think deep. My favourite film among his films is ‘Maro Charitra’. I watched this film many a times. And I like the song ‘Bhale Bhale Magadivoy…’ very much. He is the inspiration for me to do a film like ‘Geetanjali’ and I’m continuing my journey with the same spirit. He introduced many big stars to the industry.” He told Balachander, “It’s a great honor to share this stage with you and speak a few words about you. By accepting this award you have made it more precious.”

Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy said, “Despite have many problems in the state, I accepted to attend this Akkineni International Six National Award, only due to the respect for a big star like Nageswara Rao. I’m proud to be amidst such great actors. I saw many of his films during my childhood. Akkineni Nagarjuna is my senior in public school and right from then onwards we have good relationships between our families. Balachander garu’s films speak on social issues. At the time of ‘Aakali Rajyam’, I was also an unemployee. Similarly ‘Maro Charitra’ was made according to the social situations during those days. Veerappan Moiley is a scholar of politics and wrote a number of books on policy and politics. The cinema and TV fields are facing lot of piracy problems. Our government will definitely provide complete help to the film industry in eradicating this problem.”

Verappan Moiley said, “I’m very happy to participate in this function. Donating Rs 1 crore from his earning is a big sacrifice done by Akkineni Nageswara Rao. He did many good characters in films. I’m a great fan of Nageswara Rao right from my young age. He acted in about 220 films in Telugu and Tamil put together. ‘Devadas’ was made in many Indian languages but no one could match his performance. His next generations are also into films now. He is like a captain to all of them. Since I like Subbarami Reddy right from my childhood, I accepted his offer to attend this function. Balachander garu made many films on human relationships giving good messages to the public. He did many films in South India and introduced many legends to the film industry. He prefers to make films with different concepts which are also thought provoking. This apart, he also directed many serials. I’m very happy for this award being given to him. I’m confident that Kiran Kumar Reddy is capable enough to rule the state in proper form.”

Dr Subbarami Reddy said, “K Balachander is a director who created many records. His movies focus more on human values. We feel proud to give away this award to him. There is no one in India except Akkineni Nageswara Rao who is giving awards every year. He was my neighbour and we have good relationship.”

Dr Balachander said, “I cannot speak the beautiful Telugu. I haven’t seen one such award function in my 40 to 50 years of film career. I thank Akkineni Nageswara Rao garu in this occasion. Akkineni Nageswara Rao is to the Telugu film industry just like Sachin to Indian cricket team. I shot films like ‘Maro Charitra’ and ‘Ek Duje Ke Liye’ at Vizag beach. There are no barriers for talent. Akkineni Nageswara Rao garu won rave reviews in all kinds of roles. I decided not to drink in my life only after watching ‘Devadas’ film. This film was filmed in almost all Indian languages but no one could match the acting skills of Akkineni Nageswara Rao in that film. Awards give good boost in life. The Kerala government awarded Kamal Haasan recently and I’m honored to receive this prestigious award from the Telugu people. Akkineni Nageswara Rao put in lot of efforts to bring the Telugu cinema to his own state. I’m very happy to receive his award. I received many state and national award. Dada Saheb Phalke award was founded by the central government. But it is a sweet experience to receive this award from him which is on his name. Nageswara Rao garu expressed in the TV channels that he could not work with me. I wanted to do the remake of ‘Maro Charitra’ with him since he appeared too young at that time. Sree Ramachandra’s singing is very close to the heart. He would certainly become a Telugu Jesudas in the near future.”