NTR: The man who symbolized Andhra Pride – Part-1

NTR 28 May 1923 – 18 Jan 1996: Legends of Telugu cinema

Nandamuri Taraka Ramarao (NTR) was a rare phenomenon, it may not be an exaggeration when people call him ‘Yuga purushudu’, he left his larger-than-life imprint in whichever universe he traversed; whether as an actor (where he was fondly called Nata Sarvabhouma), director, producer, script-writer, illustrator or movie studio builder or as a founder of a political party Telugu Desam which achieved an unbeaten world record in capturing power and forming the Govt in Andhra Pradesh within a few months of forming the party. He became the first non-Congress Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh in January 1983 ending the monopoly of decades-old single-party politics. He was also the first CM who gave a pan-India distinct Andhra/ Telugu identity; prior to that, the south of India was just Madrasi.

Born in Nimmakuru in Krishna District on 28th May 1923, NTR did his matriculation in 1940 and completed his Graduation from AC College Guntur. One of his teachers was Kavi Samrat Viswanatha Satyanarayana, who along with other teachers instilled in him a love for Telugu language and literature. His first college play as an actor was also Viswanatha’s `Rachamalluni Doutyam’. After qualifying in the much coveted civil service of the Madras Service Commission in the then Madras Presidency, he worked as a sub-registrar at Mangalagiri, Guntur district for a short period and left the job soon, in pursuance of his love for cinema. He was married to Basava Tarakam and together they had eleven children including Nandamuri Balakrishna, Daggubati Purandhareswari, and Nara Bhuvaneswari. When his wife Basava Tharakam died of cancer in 1985, he established the Basavatarakam Indo-American Cancer Hospital in Hyderabad in 1986.

Celluloid idol

Telugu films are known for their wide range of subjects– with specialized genres, not only social and family dramas, comedies, and romedies, but also extremely well-made movies in the genres of Epics and Puranas, Historicals, Folk (janapadam), Devotionals, Fantasy, etc. That generation’s most glamorous actress and owner of Sobhanachala studios Krishnaveni introduced NTR in her ‘Mana Desam’ in 1948. (Incidentally, she just passed away on 16th February 2025 at a grand age of 102 years). NTR perhaps is the only hero who did numerous movies in each genre, he has done dozens of movies based on Ramayana, Mahabharata, Bhagavatha and various Puranas, playing Srirama and Sri Krishna multiple times as also Maha Vishnu, Mahadeva Siva, Sri Venkateswara, Arjuna, Bhima, Brihannala (for which role he learned classical Kuchipudi from the maestro Vempati Chinna Satyam), Bhishma, Ravana, Duryodhana, Karna, Satya Harishchandra, Yama, Nala, Dushyantha, Meghanada, Macchindranatha, and many other roles in various iconic movies. He played Srikrishna in nearly 20 movies, each one of them a gem. The way NTR played Sri Krishna Devaraya, Andhra Mahavishnu, Bobbili Rangaraya, Brahma Naidu, Vikramarka, Chandragupta, etc in the unparalleled historical movies, Thota Ramudu in the iconic Patala Bhairavi, or the devotee Pundareeka in Panduranga Mahatyam, there is no equal to him. P.Pullaiah’s `Sri Venkateswara Mahatyam’ in 1960 and Chittajallu Pullaiah’s magnum opus `Lavakusa’ in 1964 with NTR and Anjali Devi playing Rama and Seetha saw Telugu audiences performing harathi in the movie theaters and going on a pilgrimage from Tirupathi to Madras and waiting in front of NTR’s residence to have a glimpse of him. NTR’s own experimental films under his production house ‘National Arts Theatre’ where he played several low-key roles speak of his love for arts. The thespian not only played the much-loved Nagaraju in B N Reddy’s epic movie Malleeswari with the versatile Bhanumati, he also played the negative character of Gireesam in the iconic Kanyasulkam amidst a host of legendary actors. These were just a few of his memorable roles. He played five roles of Krishna, Arjuna, Duryodhana, Brihannala, and Keechaka simultaneously in ‘Srimad Virataparvam’. Though he left movies after he entered politics at the age of 60, he later played the protagonist in the movies – Pothuluri Veerabrahmendra Swami, Brahmarshi Viswamitra, and the poet Srinatha Kavi Sarvabhoumudu. NTR was always at the forefront, mobilizing the entire film fraternity, for raising funds in the national cause, whether for a war or a cyclone.

We can imagine the pace of both Telugu cinema and NTR, that he has acted in over 300 films as a hero in an approximately 30-year period averaging 10 movies a year. It was said that people only watched him on the silver screen even when other great performers shared screen space with him in the golden era of Telugu Cinema. In 2013, NTR was voted as the `Greatest Indian Actor of All Time’ in the CNN-IBN national poll conducted on the occasion of the centenary of Indian Cinema. Strangely he was never given the Dadasaheb Phalke award.

Movie analysts who praise Telugu cinema today for its cultural values would do well to note that despite a streak of Leftism, Telugu cinema always remained firmly rooted in Hindutva and Telugu culture, NTR was a strong pillar in strengthening and sustaining it, along with many stalwart directors and producers. Telugu people will forever remember the resplendent presence of NTR on the silver screen.

Andhra icon

Everything in NTR represented Hindutva and Andhra Pride – Andhra pourusham. Before NTR was elected for the first time, he did an artistic and innovative electoral campaign; he modified his old Chevrolet van as Chaitanya Ratham, sitting on top of the vehicle with yellow colored TDP flags, crisscrossing 75000 kms across all the districts of Andhra Pradesh with a grueling 20-hour day, driven by his son Nandamuri Harikrishna. Dressed in a khaki shirt and pants, he spoke eloquently in his deep baritone. He campaigned for Telugu vaari/ Andhrula Atmagouravam (Self-respect of Telugus) and against the misrule and highhandedness of Congress Govt. He was to repeat the same grueling rigmarole once again to become CM in 1984 when he had to wage another historic struggle with millions of people on his side; he was dethroned by PM Indira Gandhi’s Congress with the help of Nadendla Bhaskar Rao and Governor Ramlal when he went abroad for his open heart surgery. In his first stint, he took oath as Chief Minister on 9th Jan 1983 in the midst of thousands of people, marking a radical departure in every way. Since that momentous occasion, NTR became a trailblazer, just as he was in the movies. NTR’s son-in-law, later Chief Minister in 1996 and present CM of divided Andhra Pradesh N Chandrababu Naidu wasn’t part of NTR’s cabinet as he was building a strong party from the grassroots. It was said that the 1983 & 1984 Andhra Pradesh state Assembly had the most number of Graduates, postgraduates, and Professionals compared to any other Assembly in the country, with most educated professionals entering politics attracted by NTR’s new wave politics.

NTR is often erroneously equated with M G Ramachandran, who was particularly and methodically groomed for a political role in the `Dravidian’ politics of Tamil Nadu. NTR’s politics and policies were his own, his driving philosophy was the Telugu pride and development of Andhra Pradesh. People today are not aware that due to the mismanagement and corruption of successive Congress govts for decades, the largest southern state Andhra Pradesh remained impoverished and under-developed; it was next only to the Bimaru states. NTR was reportedly livid when the then General Secretary of Congress party Rajiv Gandhi allegedly humiliated T Anjaiah, the then Congress party CM of Andhra Pradesh at Hyderabad airport in February 1982. NTR was the first son of the soil, a non-politician, was not groomed for politics, and emerged entirely as a people’s leader, who ended the monopoly of Congress in the state’s politics and rose to become the Chief Minister. He made politics relatable to the common man, which helped in the democratization of polity.

National front

During the late 1980s, NTR forged ahead with his national-level politics. As chairman of National Front, he was instrumental in forming alliances with anti-congress parties, which were in turn supported by the BJP and Left parties in forming the VP Singh Govt in 1989. It must be remembered that stemming the tide of the Congress wave in 1984 after the assassination of the then PM Indira Gandhi, Telugu Desam emerged as the single largest opposition party in Parliament. A man with a large heart, NTR ensured that the then PM from Andhra Pradesh, P V Narasimha Rao was elected unopposed with a massive majority from Nandyala Loksabha Constituency in 1991. It was the same old ally, Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP which lent full and vital support to NDA’s Vajpayee govt ( 1998-2004) for a full term, even when other allies like AIADMK and TMC walked out. It is to be noted that TDP didn’t even demand ministership in Vajpayee’s Govt during the entire term. Once again it is the same TDP which as a part of NDA is supporting PM Modi’s third term as Prime Minister, post 2024 Lok Sabha elections, when BJP fell short of majority.

To be continued…

Note:
1. Text in Blue points to additional data on the topic.
2. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of PGurus.

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