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N T Rama Rao
Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao (28 May 1923 – 18 January 1996), more commonly known as N.T. Rama Rao, NTR, or Anna garu, was a great 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.
Born in Nimmakuru, Krishna District, Andhra Pradesh; he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Andhra-Christian College in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh. He later received an honorary doctorate from Andhra University.
Rao highlighted Andhra Pradesh's distinct cultural identity, distinguishing it from Madras State with which it was often associated.
Career as an actor
Rama Rao was referred to by fans as "Nata Ratna" and " Vishwa Vikhyatha Nata Sarvabhouma" (Emperor of Acting) in Telugu. [3]
Though widely recognized for playing mythological characters, Rao is considered as one of the greatest actors in Telugu film, and in general in South Indian films. His portrayal of Lord Krishna in Maya Bazaar by B. Nagi Reddy, a producer at Vijaya Productions, was the turning point in his life. His portrayal of avatars of Vishnu, especially Rama, Ravana and Krishna; mesmerized an entire generation who saw the face of Rao when these gods were mentioned.
Rama Rao had a major contribution to what can be considered the golden age of Telugu film making, between 1950 and 1965. Analysts believe that the Telugu film industry produced some of the best mythological movies from India, while the Tamil and Hindi movie industry produced better socially-oriented films.
NTR was naturally talented and extremely disciplined about various aspects of acting like preparation, punctuality, and dialogue delivery. An important factor that made him a great actor was his ability to deliver extremely lengthy dialogues that were original verses from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata with a fervour and command unmatched by most of his contemporaries. In addition, he generally played multiple roles in the same movie, which increased the number of dialogues and hence the preparation required.
Rama Rao was very versatile. In Tamil Nadu, Shivaji Ganesan was much better known for his acting skill and talent and M. G. Ramachandran for his commercial movies. Rao 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 Ramachandran's forte.
Rama Rao, in fact, played the role of Lord Krishna not only in Telugu movies, but also in Tamil and Kannada movies. While the megastars – Ramachandran, Shivaji Ganesan and Rajkumar vied for the roles of other Mahabharata heroes like Karna, Arjuna and Bhima, there was no denying that NTR would be the only one to play Lord Krishna. This is probably the greatest tribute to Rao's charismatic cine-genius.
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, but on revealing the dream to his father, he is banished from the kingdom. The heroic prince then does the impossible - passing the various tests put to him, winning the celestial damsels and bringing them home to his 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, even wining Indra's daughter in the process.
As time passed by, Rama Rao stopped playing the role of the prince in films. Instead, he played the role of a poor yet heroic young man against the system in his kingdom. To the lakhs of the denizens in Andhra Pradesh, he became 'one of us' -- one 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 Rama Rao over-acted in his social roles (especially in comparison with his contemporary Akkineni Nageswara Rao (ANR)).
The most notable movies acted by Rama Rao 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 Devarayalu) and Dana Veera Sura Karna (Duryodhana, Sri Krishna, Karna)which created a record in telugu film industry,first film which has crossed one crore collection in telugu film industry. 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, Devudu Chesina Manushulu, Adavi Ramudu, Vetagadu, Gajadonga, Driver Ramudu, Sardar Paparayudu, Kondaveeti Simham, Justice Chowdary, 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).
Politics
Rama Rao formed the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) on 29 March 1982. While promoting a new film, he was asked a question by a person in the audience Ayya, memu mimmalni devudu laga adarincamu, kani meeru maku emi chesaru? meaning Sir, we have treated you like a God but what have you done for us?. [4] He was so moved by this that he formed TDP, and with a victory in the immediate election, formed the government and ruled the state of Andhra Pradesh for a full term. He went into the elections with the slogan Atma Gauravam which meant "self-pride."
Like his films, the formation of the party and storming into the assembly was very dramatic. TDP came into power within nine 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 Indian National 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. NTR himself contested elections from the constituency of Hindupur in Anantapur District and 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 ideological terms which later proved to be disastrous. On Independence day, August 15, 1984, he was removed from office by the Governor of AP in view of a revolt by his aide and 2nd in command Nadendla Bhaskara Rao. Due to the public agitation in favour of Rao the then Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi dismissed the Nadendla Bhaskara Rao government in just one month and handed power back to NTR. NTR then dissolved the Andhra Pradesh State Assembly and asked for a fresh mandate in 1985.
He returned to power, among the most significant changes he made was to abolish the Legislative Council of the Andhra Pradesh citing the reason that it was a non-performing body which was just a burden on the state exchequer. NTR lost the subsequent elections held in 1989, but during the same period he gained valuable experience and had people like N. Chandrababu Naidu and Daggubati Venkateswara Rao (both sons-in-law) in his party.
Other contributions of NTR included the educational reforms he brought about in the state, where he overhauled the entire state's education syllabus for schools. He instituted statewide entrance examinations for all disciplines of higher education vis-à-vis Engineering, Medicine, Pharmacy, Law, and MBA to name a few. Students, based on the merit of their ranks obtained in these tests, could join any state college of their choice.
It is noteworthy that though he didn't know Hindi, yet gave a speech for forty-five minutes in a packed stadium in Haryana. He later revealed that he had memorized the speech phonetically. Devi Lal, a Deputy Prime Minister of India was shocked to learn this.
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 the National Front with parties like Janata Dal , Bharateeya Janata Party, CPI and CPM as an alternative to the Congress.
NTR stormed back to power in 1994 when he promised he would offer rice at Rs. 2/kg and to make Andhra Pradesh 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. N. Chandrababu Naidu led a sudden revolt against NTR and split the TDP into two. Naidu survived NTR's onslaught when NTR approached the public for an opinion. The break-up of the party and the drama that took place on the Tank-Bund near Hotel Viceroy (road connecting Hyderabad and Secunderabad, on the banks of Hussain Sagar) were probably the last significant events in NTR's life. Naidu became the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh on 29 August 1995.
The loss of power and the subsequent events can be summed up as the start of anti-climax in NTR's life with several people believing that his second wife Lakshmi Parvathi was responsible for happenings. NTR died soon after on 18 January 1996.
Personal life
NTR was survived by seven sons and four daughters. Among his sons Nandamuri Balakrishna is a popular film actor in Telugu. NTR's daughter Bhuvaneswari who is also the wife of N. Chandrababu Naidu is the Vice-Chairperson of Heritage Foods one of South India's largest dairy company and Purandareswari, is a Minister For Human Resources Development in the Indian Central Government. Daggubati Venkateswara Rao is a member of AP Assembly. He has several grand sons and daughters, the best known amongst them are NTR Jr.,Nandamuri Chaitanya, Nandamuri Kalyan Ram,Tarakaratna, Lokesh - Son of Bhuvaneswari and Chandrababu Naidu , Brahmani daughter of Balakrishna and Vasundhara.
NTR got married to Basavatarakam and Lakshmi Parvathi NTR has 7 sons and 4 daughters
NTR'S sons are: Jayakrishna, Sai krishna, Harikrishna, Mohankrishna, Balakrishna, Ramakrishna, Jayashankarkrishna,
NTR's Daughters are: Lokehswari, Bhuvaneswari wife of Nara Chandrababu Naidu, Purandareswari wife of Daggubati Venkateswara Rao, Uma Maheswari
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