Akbar Saleem Anarkali (1978)

In a rare departure from the mythologicals he directed at Tarakarama, NTR’s big-budget Mughal historical retells the often-filmed love story between Prince Salim and the slave girl Anarkali. This version ends with both Salim and Anarkali being saved when the court singer Tansen persuades Akbar (NTR) to forgive the lovers. The film marks the belated entry into Telugu by the Hindi/Marathi composer C. Ramchandra with hit songs like Reyi agiponi and Vela eringa doravunte, echoes his own memorable score for Filmistan’s Anarkali (1953) over two decades previously. The film recalls Muddu Krishna’s stage version of the story which was also NTR’s first theatrical success in the early 40s.