Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao
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Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao (28 May 1923 – 18 January 1996), more commonly known as N.T. Rama Rao, NTR, or Anna garu, was an Indian film actor, director, producer and a Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. His repertoire of films included mythological, social and folk themes. He was awarded the Padma Sree by the government of India in the 1960s, recognizing his contribution to the Telugu cinema. After his film career, N.T. Ramarao became a political activist and party leader.
He was born in Nimmakuru, Krishna District, Andhra Pradesh. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Andhra-Christian College of Guntur, Andhra Pradesh. He later received an honorary doctorate from Andhra University.
Many believe Ramarao highlighted Andhra Pradesh's distinct cultural identity, distinguishing it from Madras state, with which it was so often associated.
Filmmaking
Though widely recognised for his mythological characters, Ramarao is considered one of the greatest actors in Telugu film, and in South Indian film generally. His portrayal of avatars of Vishnu, especially Rama and Krishna, mesmerised an entire generation who saw the face of NTR when the Lord Krishna/Rama was mentioned, this even transcending even into non-Telugu speaking states like Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
NTR had a major contribution to what can be considered "The Golden Age of Telugu Film Making" especially between the 1950 and 1965. Though there is little commentary available, analysts believe that the Telugu film industry produced some of the best mythological movies in the entire India movie making history, while the Tamil and Hindi movie industry produced better socially oriented films. This is mainly to do with the availability of capable actors, producers, directors, personnel and audience required for such movie making.
NTR was naturally talented and extremely disciplined with various aspects of acting like preparation, punctuality, dialogue delivery etc. The single most important factor that makes him a great actor was his ability to deliver dialogues which were extremely lengthy that were original verses from Ramayana and Mahabharatha, with a fervour and command very few unlike his contemporaries, with certain exceptions like S. V. Ranga Rao. This despite the fact that he generally used to play multiple roles in the same movie, hence increasing the amount of the dialogues and preparation required, which only increased his determination.
The greatness of Rama rao was that he was very versatile. Down south, in Tamilnadu, Shivaji Ganesan was much more known for his acting skill and talent. Whereas MGR was much more known for his commercial movies. NTR struck a balance between both kinds of cinema. He used to perform roles in mythological movies like those only Shivaji could perform and even do commercial 'Janapadham'(where the adventurous prince saves the damsel in distress)films which were MGR's forte. But he did not get as many awards from the government of India because of his conflict with the central government on his political ideas. He was neglected.
One of his greatest 'janapadams' was "Jagadekaveeruni katha" (the story of the universal hero) where he plays the role of Pratap the prince of Ujjain. He dreams of celestial damsels as his wives. On revealing the dream to his father (the king), he gets banished. But the heroic prince does the impossible - win the celestial damsels, pass the various tests put on him and bring his ladies to the kingdom. Another one of his 'janapadams' was "Gulebakavali katha" (the story of Gulebakavali) where he plays the role of a prince who sets out to the heavens to bring the flower named - "Gulebakavali" in order to cure his poisoned father and even win Indra's daughter.
As time passed by, NTR stopped playing the role of the prince in films. Instead he played the role of a poor yet heroic young man in the kingdom who is against the system in his kingdom. To the lakhs of the denizens in Andhra Pradesh, he became 'one of them' who assures the poor that he is there to rescue them from the wicked traitors in the kingdom.
One criticism levelled by the upper-classes of society was that NTR over-acted in his social roles. This was primarily in comparison with his contemporary Akkineni Nageswara Rao (ANR). This aspect was never rectified but rather used as a strength in what can be called his second stint where NTR acted in a wide range of movies especially in the 1970s where he captivated the minds of an entire new generation of audience. Image:NTR-characters.JPG The most notable movies acted by NTR in mythological characters are Maya Bazaar (Sri Krishna), Lava Kusa (Lord Rama), Sri Krishnaarjuna Yuddham (Sri Krishna), Bheeshma (Bheeshma), Bhookailas(Raavana),Nartanasala (Arjuna also as Bruhannala), Panadava-vanavsam (Bheema), Sri Venkateswara Mahatyam (Lord Venkateswara), Maha Mantri Thimmarusu (Sri Krishna Devaralyalu) and Dana Veera Sura Karna (Duryodhana, Sri Krishna, Karna). Apart from these he played a variety of roles in folklore characters like Jagadeka Veeruni Katha, Pathala Bhairavi etc. On the social front he played roles in the movies Malliswari, Kanyasulkam, Gundamma Katha, Missamma, Raktha Sambandham, Ramudu Bheemudu, Adavi Ramudu, Vetagadu, Gajadonga, Driver Ramudu, Sardar Paparayudu, Kondaveeti Simham, Justice Chaudhary, Bobbili Puli etc. He acted in over two hundred and eighty movies in the lead role.
He also donned the roles of an elderly teacher (Badi Pantulu) becoming a model to his pupils, as a prince and pauper(Raju-Peda), a down to earth servant dedicated to his master (Aatma Bhanduvu). In later years of his acting life there were not many great directors to bring the best out of his talents, however he excelled beyond comparison in every role he played.
Politics
NTR formed the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in 1982. Promoting a new movie, he was asked a question by a person in the audience who asked "ayya, memu mimmalni devudu laga adarincamu, kani meeru maku emi chesaru?"; literally translated from telugu meant "Sir, we have treated you like a God but what have you done for us ?". He was so moved by this that he formed TDP and lead to victory in the immediate election, formed a government and ruled the state of AP for a full term. He went into the elections with the slogan 'Atma Gauravam' which meant self-pride.
Like his movies, the formation of the party and storming into the assembly was very dramatic. TDP came into power within 9 months of its formation. Initially ridiculed by the Congress that state politics is not like movie acting among others, TDP was considered a no match for the congress, with the local representatives unheard of, the complete burden rested on the shoulders of NTR, and true to his charisma he won the elections with a landslide majority. Among other reasons why he won the elections was no real alternative to the Congress, lack of development, unemployment etc. He was very well supported by Ramoji Rao who gave wide publicity through the Telugu daily Eenadu. NTR himself contested elections from the constituency of Gudivada in Krishna District.
During the first term as Chief Minister of AP, he got into the costumes of Swami Vivekananda and tried to govern the entire state solely on idealogical terms which later proved to be disastrous as he lost the elections after serving a full term of 5 years. Among the most significant change he made was to abolish the Legislative Council of the State of Andhra Pradesh citing the reason that it was a non-performing body which just a burden on the state exchequer. Among the lesser known were the educational reforms he brought about in the state, where he overhauled the entire state education syllabus for schools. This educational reforms were a stepping stone that rose Andhra Pradesh from unknown to top in the Software Industry in the world. NTR lost the subsequent elections held in 1989 mainly to do with his political inexperience and a strong central government lead by Rajiv Gandhi among others. But during the same period he gained valuable experience and had people like N Chandrababu Naidu, Daggubati Venkateswara Rao (both sons-in-Law) in his party.
Even though he lost the 1989 elections, he shot to fame at the national level and was capable of uniting many regional parties. He formed a Third Front with parties like Janata Dal as an alternative to Congress. He offered no competition against PV Narasimha Rao when he was chosen to be the Prime Minister of India, citing that he was proud that an Andhrudu (Andhrite) would hold the highest office in the country.
NTR stormed back to power in 1994 when he promised he would offer rice at Rs. 2/kg and to make AP an "Alcohol Free" state. True to his word he kept his promises only to burden the state exchequer. He also faced serious problems within his party because of the interference from his second wife Lakshmi Parvathi in party and government affairs. Foreseeing the imminent threat of the de-stabilising wave within the party camaraderie, N Chandrababu Naidu lead a sudden revolt and split TDP into two, where the political careers of more than 180 Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs) was at stake. Naidu survived NTR's onslaught when NTR approached the public for an opinion and went on to break the record held by NTR as the longest serving Chief Minister of AP making a mark for himself. The break-up of the party and the drama that took place on the Tank-Bund (road connecting Hyderabad and Secunderabad on the banks of Hussain Sagar) were probably the last significant events in NTR's life.
The loss of power and the subsequent events can be summed up as the start of anti-climax in NTR's life with a majority of people believing that Lakshmi Parvathi was responsible for what would otherwise have been the greatest life lived by an Andhrite since Sri Krishna Devarayalu (a 15th Century King). Officially he died of a severe heart stroke but there are conspiracy theorists who believe he had high traces of steroids in his blood which were unacceptable for a man of that age. The entire state was shocked to hear the news of his death and paid homage in a way only a king receives. His funeral was a state-affair which set the then world-record.
It is believed that he could have become the Prime Minister of India, as the third-front won the national elections and was struggling to find a leader who was acceptable to all the parties. Chandrababu Naidu went on record that he would have supported NTR as the Prime Minister as the third-front was his brain child, but it was six months too late.
NTR was survived by eight sons and four daughters, and his second wife Lakshmi Parvathi. He has several grand sons and daughter but the most known of which are his son NTR Jr. who closely resembles to NTR and Nandamuri Kalyan Ram.