Veteran south Indian film actress Anjali Devi passes away

Ch Sushil Rao / TNN / Updated: Jan 13, 2014, 19:16 IST

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Veteran actress Anjali Devi who has acted in Telugu, Tamil and Kannada movies died at the age of 86 in Chennai. She had been under treatment for a heart ailment in a private hospital.

HYDERABAD: Veteran actress Anjali Devi who has acted in Telugu, Tamil and Kannada movies died at the age of 86 in Chennai. She had been under treatment for a heart ailment in a private hospital.Anjali Devi has acted in more than 350 movies having made her screen debut with a role in "Raja Harischandra" as Lohitasya in 1936. From then it was no turning back for the versatile actress. Anjali Devi acted as Mohini in "Gollabhama" as a film which went on floors with her as the heroine was abandoned.Apart from acted in several films, Anjali Devi also produced as many as 17 films. She is most known for her role in "Lava Kusha" wherein she acted as Seetha. Before she ventured into films, Anjali Devi was a stage artiste. She was born in East Godavari district and her name was Anjani Kumari. However, her name was changed to Anjali Devi by director C Pullaiah who cast her as a heroine. Anjali Devi subsequently moved to Chennai where she pursued a film career in different films. She was a recipient of the Raghupathy Venkaiah national award in 2005 given by the Andhra Pradesh government.

Anjali Devi's films included "Big Boss", "Badi Pantulu", "Devata", "Bhishma", "Palnati Yudham", "Rangula Ratnam", "Keelugurram", "Suvarna Sundari", "Brundavanam", "Anna Vadhina" and "Police Alludu".The films that she produced included "Annai Oru Alayam", "Sarvadhikari", and "Marmayogi" in Tamil, and "Sati Sakkubai", "Suvarna Sundari", and "Chandi Priya" in Telugu.

About the Author

Ch Sushil Rao

Sushil Rao is Editor-Special Reports, at The Times of India, Hyderabad. He began his journalism career at the age of 20 in 1988. He is a gold medalist in journalism from the Department of Communication and Journalism, Arts College, Osmania University, Hyderabad from where he did his post-graduation from. He has been with The Times of India’s Hyderabad edition since its launch in 2000. He has also done an introductory course in film studies from the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune, and also from the Central University of Kerala equipping himself with the knowledge of filmmaking for film criticism. He has authored four books. In his career spanning 34 years, he has worked for five newspapers and has also done television reporting. He was also a web journalist during internet’s infancy in the mid 1990s in India. He covers defence, politics, diaspora, innovation, administration, the film industry, Hyderabad city and Telangana state, and human interest stories. He is also a podcaster, blogger, does video reporting and makes documentaries.

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