NTR - Renaming after a Legend

I am not at all for either re-naming airports or universities after the initial signature is done. But people in both Telugu states should spare a thought or two for NTR as a brand name. He has done a lot for carving out an identity for Telugus in a world bisieged by South Indian motifs mostly thought of as Tamils or Madrasis. What is the legacy that NTR created for the Telugus?

Films to start with - playing roles that nobody else would have enacted - as a eunuch, as the main villains in Ramayan and Mahabharat, as tragic poet who crooned over women and died a pauper, as an Indian Nostradamus, as the grandsire of Mahabharat, as the architect of the Vijaynagar Empire, many social roles and of course, as Lord Krishna and Rama. He was perceived as Vishnu-blue avatar long before we switched to color films. His image as Vishnu avatar got so much burned in South India that when BR Chopra was making the Mahabharat serial on DD, the maker team approached NT Rama Rao for playing the role of Krishna. NTR said," Chopraji, the roles I played as Krishna and Rama is the exclusive privilege of Telugu people. I don't want any other language to get access to that privilege." Of course, the critics panned it as old-fashioned parochialism or inability to wear grease paints to come out looking fresh as Krishna. But the point is made - NTR loved Telugu language and culture, sprinkled Telugu films with high falatun Telugu dialogues which almost run into pages for each scene.

Film theatres and amphittheatres. Apart from Tarakarama and Ramakrishna theatres which were top of the tree cinema halls in those times, he created the RK Studios and produced hugely successful films. He created an open theatre without entry ticket for the masses at Public Gardens known as Lalitha Kala Thoranam - but even that legacy is shamefully erased by the likes of T Subbirami Reddy.

Self-Esteem for the Telugus. He was quick to snatch the opportunity when Rajiv Gandhi rebuked T Anjaiah at the Begumpet airport. He spared no effort in entering politics because he felt the Telugu pride was wounded. Nobody else built a party in that short a period to get elected as CM. But of course, there is also ambition and delusions of grandeur behind this move as some would say. About an year before NTR thought of politics, he was asked to star in a short film on the great Indian Nostradamus - the 14th century Sage Veerabhrahmendra Swami from the Andhra who made many famous predictions. Amongst the many predictions he made were these: That a bania would bring freedom to India from the British. That a widow would rule the country. And NTR read  another prediction: A man with a painted face will rule Andhra. And he thought why can't it be him? Thats how some say he plunged into politics. And he went about it methodically. He hired the greatest tax consultant of the time - NA Palkiwala, filed his returns spick and span - distributed around Rs.125 crores of his networth at that time into eleven parts to his children, willed all his property and started Telugu Desam Party. The rest is history.

Love for Telugus died with him. All through his career in politics, the love for Telugus never dimmed. When the late PV Narasimha Rao became the Prime Minister of India, NTR got a great chance to prove his love for Telugu pride. A contest was shaping up in Nandyal constituency as PVNR had to win to stay elected in the parliament as an MP and he was already a Prime Minister. NTR decided to give full support to Narasimha Rao even though he was from Congress-I. He said  the Telugus will not fight against one another in electing their beloved son. Rao got elected and expressed his gratitude to both NTR and Telugu people.

Video lessons on Telugu language. NTR loved Telugu language so much he wanted to create a lasting legacy for the next gen of Telugus. He asked the great Bapu Ramana team to create a video series on the language and its nuances. He gave a lavish budget and the duo went about diligently, created a master series on which the copyright is with the state government. It was 80 per cent complete but got stopped after the next incumbent government that came after NTR's loss in the 90s stopped the project itself. Thats how others think - they failed to see the thread of Telugu culture and heritage.

Telangana government should recognise this atleast - that NTR was a ubiquitous brand for the Telugus and raising holy hell over his name attached to the Airport terminal is in bad taste. As somebody said, if NTR is an anathema, you have to rename your son too. I am not saying NTR is a Yuga Purusha or a God, but he did his best to raise the market cap of Telugus in a world full of South Indian stereotypes dominated by others.

#NTR #RenamingRGIA #TeluguPride #Telugu #TeluguLanguage #TeluguCulture #NTRamaRao #HyderabadAirport

ANR Rest in Peace! A Legend larger than Life and Films

ANR has lost out the in the last lap to the emperor of maladies but that should not take anything away from one of the most celebrated legends on celluloid the world has ever seen. I have seen most of his films, soaked up on his interviews and followed his core thoughts like life depended on it. No doubt, Akkineni is in many ways a nonpareil phenomenon in the world of acting and movies with lessons that usually accrue over many lifetimes.

What makes him a rare figure is his journey from an ordinary illiterate peasant beginning into a respectable personality that commands universal appeal. Whether it is taking on the fiercest adversary - late NTR - with his own strengths, or learning to speak in English on the very first sojourn to the US and Europe, acing up the learning curve in English throughout his life or taking a proactive approach to healthy eating and living or giving back to the film fraternity by building institutions that teach film crafts, ANR has shown the way to mould your destiny and transform yourself from rawness to near-perfection and live life with a stamp of dignity, class, financial discipline, health discipline and value system.

The area where Annapurna Studios is located today came into being from land allocated by government but the move itself set the ball rolling for Telugu Film Industry to flourish in Hyderabad. It was named as Jubilee Hills only after ANR came and then NTR followed suit so that the fraternity can churn out films that will become jubilee hits. Indeed Jubilee Hills today outgrew into Film Nagar or better known as Krishna Nagar and housed several studios and labs besides making the city a thriving cinepolis in South. 

Very few film personalities in the world have built their careers brick by brick, growing with the phases of technology and commercial equations and coping with the highs and lows. What set ANR apart is his comfort in his own skin and choice of roles from a range of characters in history, mythology, romance, literature, mysticism and modernity. He knew his limitations, he knew his strengths and always played to his advantage or at best carved his own space even when he was sparring with the vibrant NTR. I think they acted in about 31 films together but ANR picked roles that helped him stand out against NTR. He played Chanakya against NTR's Chandragupta, Arjuna against Krishna, or Tenali Raman against Krishnadeva Raya. When he could not compete, he wouldn't just accept the role. Sometimes, the risk-averseness was high because he thought he  could not take chances with roles or responsibilities that he feared may backfire - like playing Savitri's brother (which role went to NTR in "Rakta Sambandham") or playing a transvestite Arjuna (again played by NTR in "Narthanasala"). He shunned politics all his life because he thought the rewards in politics came in films too, something NTR didn't agree upon. Yet, political connections were embraced by ANR - it is alleged he got sweet-heart deals in land because of affinity to Congress party. But by far, most of his fortune was built over the fifty plus years in the most assiduous manner - something that many of his contemporaries never learnt or practised. Those few that practised his precepts in money-management and financial discipline built reserves that outlasted their careers - late Sobhan Babu, Murali Mohan, Chiranjeevi, Rama Naidu, Krishna Kumari, Sowcar Janaki,  Jayachitra, Radhika, Venkatesh, his own son Nagarjuna, Saikumar, Rajanikanth. 

Anecdotally, ANR maintained that he gave timely, frank and unsolicited advice on financial prudence to many co-stars, producers, technicians and directors. While there were many who listened and thrived, some ignored and paid a price with costly mistakes. Into this sorry category fall names like late Kantha Rao, late Savitri, Kanchana, Vanisri and so on. Tollywood's history is almost commensurately covered by ANR's career. Some of the most sordid tales of reckless financial squalor or ill-health due to lack of moderation stared in ANR's face in his journey from "Dharmapatni" to "Manam" which have made him wiser as he grasped from other people's mistakes. Chittoor Nagayya, Relangi, Raj Babu, Padmanabham, Savitri - all of them had riches to rags endings and many more cases of callousness and living beyond means dot the film world. ANR is one of the few exceptions to the folly rule but there is nothing accidental about it - it must be burnt in the consciousness of everybody: Make Hay while the sun shines but when the sun stops shining keep some haystacks away from consumption. 

ANR also helped nurture the industry grow with a co-axial anchoring with NTR and others who joined in later. He backed good scripts, scripts with novels written by good writers, engaged with directors who made engaging and timeless classics and respected everybody and above all, respected producers like a God. Because he lacked the animal charishma and outrageous screen presence like that of NTR, he took his beginning chances with few directors like Adurti Subba Rao and his direct or indirect disciples like K Vishwanath, Mullapudi Venkataramana and Bapu and producers backing star wives like Anjali Devi or Bhanumati or star producers like Rama Naidu and VB Rajendra Prasad. That set the ball rolling for a career that soared because it had the best harvest of characters - Salim, Kalidasa, Vipranarayana, Jayadeva, Tenali Ramakrishna, Devadas, Tukaram. He produced block busters too but made films with a conscience. Films like "Sudigundalu" and "Maro Prapancham" are masterpieces and relevant even today even if they failed at the box office. ANR never stopped making such films though. I remember a film called "Theerpu" an audacious plot where a righteous father kills his corrupt and criminal sons who are breaking law -something that is not irrelevant in the age of "Nirbhaya" delinquents.

Marshall McLuhan said in a book: "Medium is the Message". ANR personified this to the hilt. He understood the secret strings that endeared the masses to their matinee idols. Thats why, his lip sync with Ghantasala or Ramakrishna or SPB was the most perfect one in the industry. He had a body language that was toned down, dignified and less intense- something that became a butt of jokes by mimicry artistes. But he knew songs with the right notes made all the right noises. Even in the last film we saw recently, "Sriramarajyam", he requested Bapu to keep a song for him as Valmiki but that will make his role more memorable. It also speaks about the judgement of ANR in making himself evergreen. I remember this judgement helped him cast the die well for shaping the career of his son Nagarjuna too in the early stages. When the film "Gitanjali" was made by Mani Ratnam, no distributor came forward to buy as they thought the film lacked any spice. The story goes, ANR negotiated on behalf of producer CL Narasa Reddy. He asked the distributors to only see the songs in the film and decide. That sealed it - the distributors bought it and the film turned out to be one of the biggest hits in Nag's career, closely followed by "Shiva" again made by a new talent homegrown in Annapurna Studio corridors.

Talk about awards - no film personality has got as many awards from Dada Saheh Phalke Award to Padma Vibushan in the most diligent and chronological manner as it can ever be. It could be argued such a reap of awards couldn't come without political neutrality but merit cannot be taken away from ANR's museum of awards. Having won every award in the country, he started his own ANR award which has been rewarding the most legendary names in the world of cinema. 

His approach to food, moderate eating and health beats the likes of Dr.Atkins and GM diets. He believed in preventive rather than curative approach to health - something he rigorously followed till his run-in with cancer. He has studied life in its subtlest nuances without attending a university or reading books. He applied life to himself and applied himself to life and the magic grew every day until he became a university or an institution himself because once he tapped into his own reserve, the wisdom that poured out of that reserve proved handy for everyone who touched him. Looking at the DNA of ANR, I feel if he had chosen any other field of calling, he would have been as perceptive, diligent, analytical, happy and positive-minded. ANR has inspired millions of Telugu fans with his acting and paradigms of life. My guess is, he will continue to inspire the film-goers and film folks because his life is his message. Rest in peace, Akkineni. 

As I wind down this tribute, here are my top ten picks from a filmography of 256 films.

1. Seetaramayya Gari Manavaralu

2. Mahakavi Kaalidasu

3. Tenali Ramakrishna

4. Buddhimanthudu

5. Bhakta Tukaram

6. Maro Prapancham

7. Jayabheri

8. Andala Ramudu

9. Vipranarayana

10. Bahudurapu Baatasaari.