Why biopics on actor-politician NTR do not present the full picture

For an argumentative India, a political biopic has always meant controversy’s favourite child. Any attempt at celluloid adaptation of iconic figures with larger-than-life image is riddled with myriad imponderables. In a country where public figures are deified and worshiped, the depiction of grey shades in them is not taken kindly. Two movies with competing narratives on the life and times of NTR, a legend who strode tinsel world and politics like a colossus, have set off ripples in political circles ahead of the general elections.

NTR, the matinee idol of Telugu cinema and a three-time Chief Minister of combined Andhra Pradesh, is the subject of two movies, one by his actor-son and the ruling Telugu Desam Party legislator N Balakrishna and another by maverick filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma. The two-part biopic– “NTR-Kathanayakudu” and “NTR-Mahanayakudu”–, produced by Balakrishna who himself donned the role of his more illustrious father, is seen as an “official” version of the ruling party headed by NTR’s son-in-law and Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.

Emotional chord

Clearly, the biopic, which evoked mixed response at the box office, is mounted as a propaganda venture by the TDP to strike an emotional chord with voters in Andhra Pradesh where assembly polls are scheduled to be held along with the Lok Sabha elections in April-May. While projecting NTR, the founder of the TDP on “Telugu pride” plank, as an infallible, larger-than-life personality, it completely ignores the twilight years of the thespian, a phase that was traumatic for him after being dethroned by his son-in-law in a political coup. Interestingly, Balakrishna, himself a big star with over 100 films under his belt, had sided with Chandrababu Naidu during the tumultuous family crisis in the party in August, 1995 that led to the toppling of NTR.

A biopic on a towering personality like NTR has to include both his celluloid and political journey and the joys and tears that came his way in all their hues. The silver screen portrayal of his life cannot fit into a single, monochromatic narrative nor can it afford to exclude the tempestuous events that unfolded in his twilight years. There can be conflicting perceptions about the choices he made, the turmoil they caused in his family, and the party he founded and the eventual internal revolt. The movie was a tricky venture from the word go because it was made by somebody who was too close to the real events to be objective.

Ram Gopal Varma’s ‘Lakshmi’s NTR’ presents the story of the TDP founder through the perspective of his second wife N Lakshmi Parvathi who is persona-non-grata for the present TDP dispensation. The film focuses on the final stages of NTR’s life when he was tormented by the rebellion within his party led by Chandrababu Naidu. NTR, who founded the TDP in 1982, was dethroned by Naidu in August, 1995. Crest-fallen and heart-broken, NTR died a few months later. Lakshmi Parvathi’s alleged interference in the party affairs had led to the revolt and the subsequent split in the party.

Political relevance

NTR’s elder son-in-law Dr Daggubati Venkateswara Rao, who now keeps himself away from politics, made a valid point when he argued that a biopic on NTR would be impossible to make in the present circumstances without damaging the image of Chandrababu Naidu and other family members.

More than two decades after his death, NTR’s legacy still has political relevance and his ideals are often invoked by parties. NTR, like any regional party leader, ran a highly personalised style of politics and was criticised for being authoritarian and faced several setbacks in his tumultuous political career. But he is credited even today for bringing an identity to Telugus.

It was ironic that the man who founded the party, and captured power not once but thrice, was finally ousted from his own party and stripped of power by kith and kin. NTR died a bitter man, but his legacy continues to be invoked by the present day TDP.