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N. T. Rama Rao: He is also known as the great NTR of Andhra politics!

MAJOR KULBIR SINGH. Dated: 5/27/2017 11:01:29 AM

Major Kulbir Singh Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao (28 May 1923 – 18 January 1996), popularly known as NTR, was an Indian actor, filmmaker, director, editor and politician who served as Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh for seven years over three terms. NTR has received three National Film Awards for coproducing Thodu Dongalu (1954) and Seetharama Kalyanam (1960) under National Art Theater, Madras, and directing Varakatnam (1970), NTR has received the erstwhile Rashtrapati Awards for his performance(s) in the films Raju Peda (1954), and Lava Kusa (1963). He garnered the Nandi Award for Best Actor for Kodalu Diddina Kapuram in 1970, and the Inaugural Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu in 1972 for Badi Panthulu. NTR made his debut as an actor in a Telugu social film Mana Desam, directed by L. V. Prasad in 1949. He gained popularity in the 1950s when he became well known for his portrayals of Hindu deities, especially Krishna and Rama, roles which have made him a “messiah of the masses”. He later became known for portraying antagonistic characters and Robin Hood-esque hero characters in films. In total he starred in 300 films, and has become one of the most prominent figures in the history of Telugu cinema. He was voted ‘Greatest Indian Actor of All Time’ in a CNN-IBN national poll conducted in 2013 on the occasion of the Centenary of Indian Cinema. He has starred in films like Patala Bhairavi (1951), which premiered at the first India International Film Festival, held in Mumbai on 24 January 1952, Malliswari (1951), premiered at Asia Pacific Film Festival, the enduring classics Mayabazar (1957), and Nartanasala (1963), featured at Afro Asian film festival in Jakarta. All the four films were included in CNN-IBN’s list of hundred greatest Indian films of all time. He co-produced, Ummadi Kutumbam nominated by Film Federation of India as one of its entries to the 1968 Moscow Film Festival. Besides Telugu, he has also acted in a few Tamil films. Widely recognised for his portrayal of mythological characters, NTR was one of the leading method actors of Indian cinema, He was referred to in the media as Viswa Vikhyatha Nata Sarvabhouma. He was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India in 1968, recognizing his contribution to Indian cinema. After his career in films, NTR entered politics. He founded the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in 1982 and served three tumultuous terms as Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh between 1983 and 1995. He was known as an advocate of Andhra Pradesh’s distinct cultural identity, distinguishing it from the erstwhile Madras State with which it was often associated. At the national level, he was instrumental in the formation of the National Front, a coalition of non-Congress parties which governed India from 1989 until 1990. N. T. Rama rao (NTR) was born on 28 May 1923 in Nimmakuru, a small village in Gudivada taluk of Krishna District, which was a part of the erstwhile Madras Presidency of British India. He was born to a farming couple, Nandamuri Lakshmaih and Venkata Ramamma, but was given in adoption to his paternal uncle. He attended school at first in his village, and later in Vijayawada. After his matriculation in 1940, he studied at SRR & CVR college in Vijayawada and at the Andhra-Christian College in Guntur. In 1947, he joined the Madras Service Commission as a sub-registrar, a much-coveted job that he nevertheless quit within three weeks to devote himself to acting. He developed a baritone singing voice as a young man. NTR started his film career with a walkon role as a policeman in Mana Desam (1949). Following this, he appeared in Palletoori Pilla, directed by B. A. Subba Rao. His first mythological film was in 1957, where he portrayed Krishna in the blockbuster film Maya Bazaar. He essayed the role of Krishna in 17 films, including some landmark films like Sri Krishnarjuna Yudham (1962), the Tamil film Karnan (1964) and Daana Veera Soora Karna (1977). NTR entered politics when he founded the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) on 29 March 1982 in Hyderabad. He said that this decision was based on a historic need to rid Andhra Pradesh of the corrupt and inept rule of the Indian National Congress which had governed the state since its formation in 1956 and whose leadership had changed the Chief Minister five times in five years. In the elections, the TDP allied with the Sanjaya Vichara Manch party and decided to field educated candidates who had a good name in the society and were not indulging in corruption, which was an innovative political concept at the time. NTR himself decided to contest from two assembly constituencies, Gudivada and Tirupati. NTR used many innovative ways of campaigning, such as being the first politician in India to use rath yatras for campaigning. However it was MGR who had started the open top van campaigning for elections, as it was felt that he can address the road shows as an alternative to the mammoth meetings, which involves large amount of money as well as manpower. For this, he used a modified Chevrolet van which was given the name of Chaitanya Ratham. In this, NTR travelled across the state of Andhra Pradesh, crisscrossing all the districts. With his son Nandamuri Harikrishna, also a film actor, driving the van, NTR notched up over 75,000 kilometres during his campaign, a distinctive sight with the van’s yellow party flags and banners and NTR sitting on top of the vehicle hailing the crowds. NTR campaigned for restoring the dignity of the Telugu people and advocated the forming a closer bond between the government and the common people, going into the elections with the slogan, Telugu Vari Atma Gauravam (Telugu people’s self-respect). In the elections, the TDP won by an absolute majority, winning 199 out of the 294 seats in the state assembly, with NTR himself winning both the seats he contested. Their alliance with the Sanjaya Vichara Manch fetched 202 seats. NTR was sworn in as the 10th and the first non-Congress Chief Minister of the state on 9 January 1983 with ten cabinet ministers and five ministers of State. On 15 August 1984, NTR was removed from office by the then Governor of Andhra Pradesh Ramlal while he was in the USA to undergo open heart surgery.