 Like
Ronald Reagan of USA and
M.G. Ramachandran of Tamil Nadu, Nandamuri Taraka Rama
Rao of Andhra Pradesh also stepped down from
the silver screen to enter the political arena.
Popularly known as NTR, the matinee idol of millions
of Andhraites drew heavily on his filmi charisma and began
to woo his prospective political followers. However, unlike
Reagan and Ramachandran, NTR did not join any already
established political party. He founded his own in 1982.
He called it 'Telugu Desam' and brought
it to the helm of political power within a year. He had
opened a new chapter in the history of Andhra Pradesh
as he formed the first non-Congress government after Independence.
Born to Laxmaiah and Venkatramamma on May
28, 1923 at Nimmakur in Krishna District of
Andhra Pradesh, Rama Rao was a typical middle class child.
He completed his matriculation from Vijayawada in 1940
and graduated from the Andhra Christian (AC) College,
Guntur.
Right from childhood NTR was good at reciting verses from
the Ramayan and Mahabharat. His sense of
rhythm and sonorous voice attracted good attention. He
was also fond of theatre. Still in his teens, NTR instantly
got immersed into his role, be it male or female. No wonder,
during his college days, he walked away with the first
prize in acting for his female role of 'Anarkali'.
He started getting offers to act on the silver screen.
In 1947, after completing studies, he agreed to do 'Mana
Desam'. The film was released in 1949.
But it did not do much for him. He had to struggle to
get stabilized in a film career. This struggle saw him
growing into a perfect actor.
From 1947 to 1982, NTR acted in more than 290 films, including
15 Tamil and three Hindi. In his career spanning 33 years,
NTR, acted in 184 social, 43 mythological, 55 folk and
11 historical feature films.
His enacting of the mythological roles of Rama,
Krishna, Karna and Duryodhana made the
epic characters come alive on the screen. He made the
viewers believe that Rama, Krishna, Karna or Duryodhana
could not be of any other kind than what he had portrayed.
He was always enthusiastic and ready to learn. He used
to refer several books to study the moods and different
shades of the character he was to enact. This particular
zeal and hard work enabled NTR to simultaneously take
up three different roles of Krishna, Karna and Duryodhana
in the film 'Dana Veera Shoora Karna'. This earned
him the title of "Nata Samrat" (Emperor
in acting). His social roles in 'Missamma', 'Malleshwari',
'Gundamma Katha' are also unforgettable.
NTR was not only a disciplined actor but also a promising
entrepreneur. When the Telugu film industry was settled
in Chennai, NTR invested some of his earnings and built
Ramakrishna Studios and Ramakrishna Theatres
in Hyderabad. This encouraged the return of Telugu film
industry from Chennai to its native state, Andhra Pradesh.
He was awarded 'Padma Shri' in 1968 and in 1978
the Andhra University conferred on him a Doctorate.
After 33 years of a grand acting career, NTR, at the age
of 61 took over the reigns of Andhra Pradesh as its Chief
Minister. NTR ruled for nine years introducing several
welfare programmes. With the Mandal system NTR
brought the administration to the people's doorstep. His
"Property Rights to Women" came as a much
delayed gift to the women of Andhra Pradesh.
NTR also contributed significantly to the national politics.
He laid the foundation for coalition politics at the centre.
He played a key role in bringing all the non-Congress
parties in the form of 'United Front' and formed
the second non-Congress government at the centre in 1984.
NTR married Basava Tarakam in 1942 and had nine
children. Basava Tarakam died of cancer in the eighties.
He later married Lakshmi Parvathi, who did her
Doctoral Research on him. NTR died of a cardiac arrest
on 18 January 1996.
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