Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu launched the highly-anticipated NTR biopic, based on the life of late actor and former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh NT Rama Rao, on Thursday at Ramakrishna Studio in Hyderabad.
The crème le crème of Telugu film industry gathered to wish Nandamuri Balakrishna and the entire team luck for the prestigious project.
To be directed by Teja, the biopic will see Nandamuri Balakrishna step into the shoes of his late father.
In the introductory shot, canned on Thursday, a scene from NTR’s widely popular Daana Veera Soora Karna was filmed. Nandamuri Balakrishna appeared as Duryodhana from the said film.
Speaking on the occasion, Naidu was quoted by Times of India as saying: “NTR had changed the face of Telugu cinema and put the interest of all Telugus in his heart when he took the plunge into politics. He was the one who gave recognition to the Telugu community at the national stage and he will always be an icon for us. Though normally, presidents or vice presidents don’t attend film events, I decided to come because of the respect I have for NTR. I also believe that cinema is a powerful medium and can truly honour his life and I wish his son Balakrishna the very best in his endeavour.”
Teja explained how he was doubtful about doing justice to the film. “When I was approached with the offer, I remember telling them if I can do justice to the story. I had this doubt, despite being a huge fan of NTR. I’ll give my best efforts. NTR’s story is so vast; it’d take six films to encompass everything. We’ve tried to encapsulate everything into one film and I hope we will do justice. If everything goes as planned, we’ll come to theatre this Dussehra.”
{{/usCountry}}Teja explained how he was doubtful about doing justice to the film. “When I was approached with the offer, I remember telling them if I can do justice to the story. I had this doubt, despite being a huge fan of NTR. I’ll give my best efforts. NTR’s story is so vast; it’d take six films to encompass everything. We’ve tried to encapsulate everything into one film and I hope we will do justice. If everything goes as planned, we’ll come to theatre this Dussehra.”
{{/usCountry}}Nandamuri Balakrishna recalled how special the date, March 29, was in his father’s life. “March 29 is an auspicious day. It was on this day my father attained the mass hero status with his 1951 film Pathala Bhairavi. My father’s most popular film, Lava Kusa, released on this same day. This day also happens to be the foundation day of Telugu Desam Party.”
He added it is an honour to be playing his father on screen.
To be jointly produced by Nandamuri Balakrishna, Vishnu Induri and Sai Korrapati, the film will have music by MM Keeravani. While Santhosh Thundiyil will crank the camera, Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao will take care of editing.
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