Pawan Kalyan, Nagarjuna meet Modi: What they can learn from NTR
When the legendary N T Rama Rao hung up his jackboots and chose to don the political robes, he was a revolution. He could effortlessly connect with the masses. It was not as if NTR was the first matinee idol to take the plunge into politics, nor was he the last to do so too. But while other film stars of Tamil Nadu were an example, NTR was a phenomenon. Many stars eventually tried to ape him, but in vain. Why did NTR alone remain a giant, while others could not make it that big? Multiple reasons helped magnify NTR’s personality, which, however, dwarfed the others. Kalyan has floated his own party. Image courtesy: Facebook As a superstar, NTR was idolized than was seen just as any other entertainer. For decades, NTR made sure that his movies – social as well as mythological – were essentially embedded with a political message. In hindsight, one gets the impression that he nursed political ambitions for a long time, if one analyses the numerous roles he donned. With his feet firmly rooted to the ground, he cast a magical spell on the people of Andhra Pradesh with his slogan of Telugu pride and an emotional call of “Indira Congress, Quit Andhra Pradesh”. That he took just nine months to trample the Congress and romp home to a landslide victory is history. But he continues to be remembered by the people. Though analysts and some politicos try to ascribe his resounding success to the circumstances – that the people were disgusted with the long and vexatious Congress regime whose stock fell gravely in people’s eyes -- it cannot be dismissed so easily. Several film personalities tested the political waters even when NTR was alive. Superstar Krishna, heroine Jamuna, Jayaprada, Jayasudha, UV Krishnam Raju, Mohan Babu, P Babu Mohan, Kota Srinivasa Rao and several others flirted with politics and some went to become ministers either at the Centre or the state, while some of them contested and lost after just one election. Chandrababu Naidu treated the Telugu tinsel town, his father-in-law’s alma mater, almost as an extension counter of his Telugu Desam Party.
When the legendary N T Rama Rao hung up his jackboots and chose to don the political robes, he was a revolution. He could effortlessly connect with the masses. It was not as if NTR was the first matinee idol to take the plunge into politics, nor was he the last to do so too. But while other film stars of Tamil Nadu were an example, NTR was a phenomenon. Many stars eventually tried to ape him, but in vain. Why did NTR alone remain a giant, while others could not make it that big? Multiple reasons helped magnify NTR’s personality, which, however, dwarfed the others. Kalyan has floated his own party. Image courtesy: Facebook As a superstar, NTR was idolized than was seen just as any other entertainer. For decades, NTR made sure that his movies – social as well as mythological – were essentially embedded with a political message. In hindsight, one gets the impression that he nursed political ambitions for a long time, if one analyses the numerous roles he donned. With his feet firmly rooted to the ground, he cast a magical spell on the people of Andhra Pradesh with his slogan of Telugu pride and an emotional call of “Indira Congress, Quit Andhra Pradesh”. That he took just nine months to trample the Congress and romp home to a landslide victory is history. But he continues to be remembered by the people. Though analysts and some politicos try to ascribe his resounding success to the circumstances – that the people were disgusted with the long and vexatious Congress regime whose stock fell gravely in people’s eyes -- it cannot be dismissed so easily. Several film personalities tested the political waters even when NTR was alive. Superstar Krishna, heroine Jamuna, Jayaprada, Jayasudha, UV Krishnam Raju, Mohan Babu, P Babu Mohan, Kota Srinivasa Rao and several others flirted with politics and some went to become ministers either at the Centre or the state, while some of them contested and lost after just one election. Chandrababu Naidu treated the Telugu tinsel town, his father-in-law’s alma mater, almost as an extension counter of his Telugu Desam Party.
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