a controversy-free fare

  With the first part ‘Kathanayakudu’ setting the mood for what one could expect in the second, Balayya’s home production ‘Mahanayakudu’ continues the build-up of the  benevolent patriarch NTR, showing him achieving his leadership status in the hearts and minds of the Telugu diaspora, despite villainous interventions by power-hungry co-travellers.

If the first part was a very linear, one-sided version of the success which NTR achieved in the Telugu film industry, the second takes the same approach when showcasing in his political career. Taking off from the final scene in the first one when the high-strung matinee idol announces his party, it moves at a pre-determined pace and route, which is clearly a step-by-step recounting of the leader-to-be’s journey into the interior parts of Andhra Pradesh in his quest for people connect.

The curiosity factor about how the film will deal with the emergence of Chandrababu Naidu and his subsequent dethroning of the titan in the political arena is something which remains unrequited. Quite expectedly, with his political and family ties, Balakrishna could not have shown a mirror into the happenings which shook the state and altered its political course forever two decades ago. Hence, the best option for him was to stop at the point in time (the 1984 phase) when N T Rama Rao returns triumphantly from Delhi after taking on the might of New Delhi, Congress party and Indira Gandhi put together.