Shooting on NTR biopic to resume in October

Nimmakuru: There was a festive atmosphere in the village on Saturday as the team of NTR biopic led by Nandamuri Balakrishna and the film director Krish came to this village. There was a sort of excitement among people and old timers who are now in their seventies recalled their memories of their association with NTR.

Most of them said they were children when NTR had started his career as an actor. They said NTR used to stay in a big house which had about seven room in all and a big hall. Whenever he used to come to the village about 100 folding metal chairs used to follow him. These chairs were arranged in the hall and a big wooden chair was placed for NTR. “We used to accompany our parents to NTRs house as school-going kids. NTR used to enquire about the welfare of the families, the issues in the village and interact with our parents. He also used to talk to us and find out how we were studying,” they said.

Balakrishna and his team spoke to the villagers and tried to understand what was NTR like during his younger days when he was in school, his mannerisms, his habits etc. They tried to find out the details about the school where he studied, the condition of the school during those days, how the village used to be during those days etc. Later speaking to media, Balakrishna said that the film would be released on January 9 and he was confident that the director Krish would make it as a most memorable film.

The actor-turned-politician said that he feels it will be a great honour to play the role of his father and was trying to study every movement of his father as a student, actor and politician. Vidya Balan would be playing the role of Basavatarakam in the film. Though Balakrishna avoided a direct reply to a question about who would play the role of Balakrishna, the son of NTR in the film, he threw hints that his son Mokshagnya may be the choice. He said some of the family members too would be in the film. “NTR was a larger than life personality and all out efforts are being made to protect that image,” he added.

Director Krish said the shooting of the movie would resume in October 2018 and the biopic would be released in January 2019. Hundreds of villagers of Nimmakuru and nearby places came to the village to see the film unit and actors particularly Balakrishna and Daggubati Rana. The team also visited Komaravolu, the village of Basavatarakam. Earlier, Balakrishna and Krish garlanded the life size statues of the late NTR and his wife Basavatarakam in Nimmakuru and paid rich tributes to the couple. The movie crew spent about two hours in the villages and discussed on how to make the movie and get the support from local people.