Hyderabad: Plans by Telugu film superstar Nandamuri Balakrishna to produce a biopic on his father, the late legendary actor and former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N.T. Rama Rao have created a stir in the political circles of the state.
Many in the ruling Telugu Desam Party, including incumbent Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, are worried about the fall out.
Balakrishna, who is also brother-in-law to Naidu and a legislator of the Telugu Desam Party, met the latter at his official residence in Guntur in the wee hours of Tuesday, amid speculation that the idea of the biopic figured in their discussion.
As soon as Balakrishna announced the plans to make the film with himself in the lead, one interesting question started making the rounds: Who will be the villain in the film?
The issue has touched a raw nerve among supporters of Chandrababu, as he led the family coup in August 1995 which ousted N. Rama Rao both from power and leadership of the party. Chandrababu, supported by many family members including Balakrishna, took over the reigns of the government and party, leaving an old and ailing NTR in the lurch.
It is widely accepted that NTR’s second marriage to Lakshmi Parvathy, her emergence as the power behind the throne, and the fear that NTR would groom her as his political heir, had triggered the palace coup that became the most important and tragic part of NTR’s life.
Having failed in retrieving his political empire, and after losing an election, NTR died a lonely man in January 1996.
Though in real life many saw his politically ambitious son-in-law Chandrababu as the villain, Naidu tried to put the stigma behind and project himself as a saviour of Telugu Desam Party and Andhra Pradesh, ever since he became chief minister.
Still very careful about his image, Naidu does not want a film to reopen the old wounds and revive memories of the political drama of how he managed to win the support of majority of TDP MLAs and leaders to oust NTR.
Balakrishna, known as Balayya, reportedly assured Chandrababu that he will keep the controversies out of the film. But questions were being raised about how the biopic would be complete if the most important chapter of NTR’s life was skipped.
“I know where to begin and end the story”, Balakrishna told journalists. He said the script was not yet fully ready and a lot of research will go in to it to highlight big achievements of the thespian.
Sources said Chandrababu Naidu had also advised Balakrishna to take inputs from him to make the biopic “perfect”. The film was likely to be ready for launching ahead of 2019 elections.
Meanwhile Lakshmi Parvathy has issued a stern warning of legal action if she is portrayed in a negative light.
“I will sue the film makers and Chandrababu Naidu if I am portrayed negatively. The events of 1995 should be shown truthfully. I will not tolerate if they try to project Chandrababu as a hero,” she said.
Born on May 23, 1923 in Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh, Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao made his debut in Telugu films in 1949 with Mana Desam and went on to rule the Telugu screen for more than four decades.
His unmatched popularity and a cult image led him to a greater success and glory when he launched a regional party Telugu Desam and stormed to power in Andhra Pradesh in 1983, defeating Congress party led by a powerful leader — Indira Gandhi.
The biopic was likely to be directed by one of the big ticket directors including Boyapati Srinivas or Puri Jagannath.
