A faithful recreation of the NTR aura

‘NTR - Kathanayukudu’, lovingly shaped up by his actor-politician son Balakrishna was hardly expected to surprise the fans of the Nandamuri clan. It does just that, maintaining a linear narrative about the life and times of the icon, who was destined to touch great heights in whichever field he stepped in- from the theatre arena to the intensely public- oriented fields of cinema and later, politics.

In a flashback mode, the well-known era of the NTR reign, when he chucks his government job and moves to Madras to try his luck out as a hero rolls out scene by scene. There is hardly any obstacle he fails to overcome, supported by an eager set of producers and directors who have no other option but to cast him, either under pressure or the rapid surge in popularity he earns from the release of a few of his initial movies. No wonder then, he is soon the lord of all that he surveys, overtaking his senior Akkineni Nageswara Rao in no time (Sumanth in a low-key performance) and essaying a variety of characters, with a clearly pro-people orientation.

Taking the first part to the point where NTR announces the launching of his Telugu Desam Party in his inimitable theatrical style, the film stays rooted to the life and times of the man, whose future moves are shaped up with a series of events which take place in his filmi avatar. Balakrishna packs in a good set of artistes like Prakash Raj ( B Nagi Reddy), Murali Sharma ( Chakrapani) other than taking care of the glamour portions via Jayaprada ( Hansika Motwani), Shriya Saran ( Rama Prabha) and Rakul Preet Singh (Sridevi) with whom the thespian was featured in 14 movies! In fact, this is the only place where the womenfolk of his house are shown mildly objecting to his cavorting with heroines who are as old as his youngest daughter! The matinee idol however justifies it by saying that he was only being faithful to the character as visualised by his director and nothing else!

Barring a few below-the-surface prods like these, the film makes no attempt to take up any controversial issues or sensationalise any happenings which is known to have taken place during his long stint in the celluloid world. If nothing else, it only leads the viewers to await the Part II in which the viewers are bound to see how the ‘Mahanayukudu’ performed his next role, the final one of his life in the heat and dust of Indian politics. It is a nice biopic for his fans but a tad too flat and predictable for the rest of the viewers who would have wished a little zing here and there.

Balakrishna stays in the mould of his illustrious father, by and large, and warms the hearts of his legion of fans with his strikingly similar looks at many portions of the film. Round one is with the star for the present, for sure!