Anjali Devi
Anjali Devi in 1949
Born	Anjanamma (1927-08-24)24 August 1927 Peddapuram,East Godavari,Madras Presidency (now inAndhra Pradesh),British India
Died	13 January 2014(2014-01-13) (aged 86) Chennai,Tamil Nadu,India
Occupations	Actress model film producer
Spouse	P. Adinarayana Rao ​ ​ (m. 1948; died 1991)​

Anjali Devi (pronunciation^ⓘ; 24 August 1927 – 13 January 2014) was an Indian actress, model and producer inTelugu andTamil films. She was well known for her role as the DeviSita inLava Kusa as well as for the title roles in movies likeChenchu Lakshmi,Suvarna Sundari andAnarkali.

Anjali Devi was born inPeddapuram,East Godavari district inAndhra Pradesh, India,^{[citation needed]} as Anjamma. She changed her name to Anjani Kumari when acting in dramas. Later, directorC. Pullaiah changed her name to Anjali Devi.^[1]

She was a theatre artiste before venturing into movies, her debut film role was as Lohitasva in "Raja Harishchandra" in 1936. Her first film as a heroine wasKashtajeevi byL. V. Prasad in 1940, but that film was abandoned after three reels shooting. Later, C.Pullayya discovered her and gave her the opportunity to star as Mohini inGollabhama (1947). Based on her acting ability and looks, she became a star overnight in 1947. She eventually acted in more than 350 films, majority of them inTelugu andTamil films and a few inHindi,Kannada films as the heroine or in character roles.^[2]

She acted inLava Kusa, a milestone film and the first color film in the Telugu film industry in 1963. She is well known for playing Sita inLava Kusa and her performances in films likeSuvarna Sundari andAnarkali were also appreciated.Brundavanam (1992),Anna Vadina (1993) andPolice Alludu (1994) were the last few films of her career. In Balaiah'sPolice Alludu andAnna Vadina she appeared alongside Brahmanandam. She acted in various roles, such as a damsel, an angel, a dancer, a demon, a goddess, a traditional woman and later in mother roles.^[3]

In 1955 she produced the filmAnarkali, in which she herself playedthe title role, withAkkineni Nageswara Rao asPrince Salim. Then she produced V. Madhusudan Rao'sBhakta Tukaram andChandipriya. ActressJayapradha played the lead role in the latter alongsideSobhan Babu andChiranjeevi. As a producer she has produced 27 films. An ardent devotee of SriSathya Sai Baba she produced and acted in Shirdi Sai Parthi Sai Divyakatha, a tele-serial on the life and avatar of SriSathya Sai Baba.^[4]

She marriedP. Adinarayana Rao, a music director, in 1948.^[2] They settled inChennai. They have two sons. Together, they produced many Telugu films under the banner,Anjali Pictures. Their granddaughter, Saila Rao, is also an actress.^{[citation needed]}

Devi died at the age of 86 on 13 January 2014 at Vijaya Hospital, in Chennai, due to acardiac arrest.^[2] Her organs were donated to Ramachandra Medical College.^[5]

• Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu –Anarkali (1955)
• Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu –Chenchu Lakshmi (1958)
• Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu –Lava Kusa (1963)
• Honorary doctorate fromNagarjuna University,Guntur.
• Raghupathi Venkaiah Award in 1994 for her lifetime service to theTelugu film industry.
• Ramineni National Award in 2006 in the fine arts category.
• ANR National Award in 2008.
• Tamil Nadu State Film Honorary Award – Arignar Anna Award in 2000
• Padmabhushan Dr. B. Saroja Devi National Award in 2010 byBharathiya Vidya Bhavan, Bangalore.^[6]

• Paradesi
• Suvarna Sundari
• Swarnamanjari
• Chandi Priya
• Sati Sakkubai
• Shirdi Sai Sathya Sai Divya Katha (television series)
• Anarkali

• Krishnaveni
• Bhanumathi

• Anjali Devi profile atIMDb

• 1927 births
• 2014 deaths
• Telugu film producers
• Indian film actresses
• Indian women film producers
• Film producers from Andhra Pradesh
• Recipients of the Rashtrapati Award
• Actresses in Telugu cinema
• Actresses in Hindi cinema
• Actresses in Tamil cinema
• 20th-century Indian actresses
• People from East Godavari district
• Actresses from Andhra Pradesh
• Tamil film producers
• 20th-century Indian businesspeople
• 20th-century Indian businesswomen
• Businesspeople from Andhra Pradesh
• Telugu women film directors
• Telugu film directors

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• Articles with unsourced statements from January 2014