NTR KATHANAYAKUDU
This comprehensive biopic chronicles the life and times of Telugu superstar NTR aka Rama Rao who ruled the Telugu cinema as a lead actor for a whopping four decades
The biopic initially focuses on image building by introducing NTR's (Nandamuri Balakrishna) self respecting, righteous and ambitious approach to his personal as well as professional lives. How he quits a stable Govt job and relocated to Madras to pursue his dream, starts with inconsequential character roles and on the sheer power of hard work and audience love he skyrockets to superstardom. The movie deals with the personal and career events in NTR's life from 1947-1985 including his bold and daring angst against the infamous emergency period in India.
Director Krish Jagarlamudy does a fine job considering the Herculean task he was assigned to depict the larger than life gigantic persona of NTR.
Nandamuri Balakrishna reprising his father NTR is a delight to watch, he has inherently portrayed the mannerisms, dialogue delivery, personality traits of his late father in perfect sync. Sumanth playing Akkineni Nageshwara Rao does a brilliant job. Prakash Raj, Sachin Khedekar, Murali Sharma are disappointing. Notable cameos include Jisshu Sengupta as LV Prasad and Ravi Kissen as Ravikant Nagaich, both are brilliant.
Vidya Balan breathes grace and warmth in her portrayal of NTR's wife Basavatarakam. Nithya Menon is impressive in a brief role as the doomed star Savithri. Eye candy appealing cameos include Hansika Motwani as Jayaprada and Rakulpreet as Sridevi.
NTR's bold persona and his commitment to his work is showcased well for instance he played triple roles of Krishna,Karna and Duryodhan in a mythological, how he ensures to complete his movie shooting even after hearing about his teenage son's death, his daring face off with the prime minister(Supriya Matkari),all these events only add to his intriguing persona on and off screen.
Except for a running time of nearly 3 hours there seems to be no other hindrance noticeable in this brilliantly conceived biopic of a superstar who hasn't faded from the memories of his followers over the years.
