The ANR National Award was instituted by the Akkineni International foundation in the honor of Akkineni Nageswara Rao. The award was given annually to recognize people for their lifetime achievements and contributions to the Indian film industry.
ANR National Award was first awarded to veteran Bollywood actor Dev Anand in 2006. The last time, the award was given to SS Rajamouli in 2017. For unknown reasons, Nagarjuna did not conduct the Award ceremony for last two days. But, he has finally decided to revive.
There have been reports that, Mega Star Chiranjeevi will be conferred with ANR National Award for the year 2019. However, there’s no truth in it. Actually, the awards for 2018 and 2019 will be presented by Chiranjeevi.
Late actress Sridevi and Bollywood yesteryear actress Rekha have been selected for the ANR National Awards for 2018 and 2019 respectively. Sridevi’s husband Boney Kapoor is likely to receive the award for 2018 on behalf of Sridevi.