2 hours agoAuthor: Virendra Mishra
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Jr NTR was made fun of for his looks and weight, today he is a global icon.
Today, Junior NTR is counted among the big stars not only of Tollywood but of entire Indian cinema. Dada N. Junior NTR, who took over the film legacy of T. Rama Rao, won the National Award at the age of 13. Sometimes he was trolled for his looks and weight, and sometimes lakhs of fans gathered to get a glimpse of him.
Reportedly 10 lakh people attended the audio launch of ‘Andhrawala’. Junior NTR’s personal life was also in discussion. Their wedding was counted among the most expensive celebrity weddings of that era, with reports of around Rs 100 crore being spent. While returning from election campaign in 2009, he met with a horrific road accident and had a close look at death.
The death of his brother and father in road accidents broke him deeply and he turned away from films. But after four years he made such a comeback with RRR that he became a global star.
On the 43rd birthday of Junior NTR, let us know some interesting stories related to his life.
Grandfather’s legacy, political influence
Junior NTR is a pan-India superstar today, but his identity was not limited to films only. He comes from an influential family in Telugu cinema and politics of Andhra Pradesh. His grandfather NTR (N.T. Rama Rao) was a superstar actor and also the founder of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and three-time Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh.
NTR married Basavatarakam in 1943. Both of them had 12 children, of which 8 sons and 4 daughters. Later this family became considered very powerful in Telugu film industry and politics. Many members of the family became big political and film names.
NTR’s son: dominance in films, politics and business
The most popular names among NTR’s sons were Nandamuri Harikrishna and Nandamuri Balakrishna. Apart from being an actor, Harikrishna was a big leader of TDP and a Rajya Sabha MP. Nandamuri Balakrishna is a superstar of Telugu films and is active in politics.
Other sons of the family were also involved in different roles. Nandamuri Ramakrishna Sr. was associated with film making and production activities. Nandamuri Jayakrishna continued to handle the film distribution and business. Nandamuri Saikrishna remained associated with business activities.
Nandamuri was a part of Mohankrishna Film and Business Network. Nandamuri Harinath remained relatively away from public life. Nandamuri Ramakrishna Jr. remained active in family film and business activities. In the next generation, Jr. NTR, Kalyan Ram and other actors made a name for themselves in films.
Daughters also joined big political families
NTR’s daughters also remained active in politics and social activities. Daggubati Purandeshwari was a BJP leader and former Union Minister. Bhuvaneshwari slogan Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu’s wife. Lokeshwari remained active in social and family activities.
Uma remained a part of the Maheshwari family and was in the news from time to time. For this reason N. The T. Rama Rao family is considered to be the most influential political-film family of Andhra Pradesh.
Political dispute increased in second marriage and family
After the death of Basavatarakam, NTR married Lakshmi Parvati for the second time in 1993. Lakshmi Parvati was a writer and the two came close while writing the biography of NTR.
He had no children from this marriage. This relationship was controversial and many family members were against it. Later there was a major political conflict within the family and the party. After the death of NTR, Lakshmi Parvati formed a separate party, but she did not get much political success.
Junior NTR (center) with his grandfather N. on a film set as a child. With T. Rama Rao (on the left) and father Nandamuri Harikrishna (on the right).
Whose son is Jr NTR?
Jr NTR is the son of NTR (N. T. Rama Rao) and Nandamuri Harikrishna and Shalini Bhaskar Rao. He is a grandson from the family line of NTR and his first wife Basavatarakam.
Junior NTR’s father Nandamuri Harikrishna had married twice. His first wife was Lakshmi Kumari, from whom Kalyan Ram, Janaki Ram and Suhasini were born.
According to Times of India reports, there was resentment in the family over Harikrishna’s second marriage and grandfather N. T. Rama Rao was initially not happy with this relationship. However, after the birth of Jr. NTR he accepted Shalini into the family and gave his name to his grandson.
Junior NTR is fondly called ‘Taarak’ in the family. Later, grandfather NTR added his full name to his name and named him ‘Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao’. From here he became famous as ‘Junior NTR’.
Junior NTR’s father Harikrishna was active in both films and politics. He was considered a big campaigner for TDP and used to attract huge crowds in election rallies. The same popularity was later seen in Junior NTR also.
Junior NTR in a scene from the film ‘Brahmrishi Vishchamitra’.
Made debut in grandfather’s film at the age of 8
Junior NTR was born on 20 May 1983. He started working in films at a young age. Debuted as a child artist with ‘Brahmrishi Vishchamitra’ at the age of just 8 years. This film was directed by his grandfather NTR.
He played the role of King Bharat in the film. Along with her school studies, she took training in Kuchipudi dance, which gave a distinct identity to her dancing style.
Got National Award at the age of 13
Junior NTR’s second big film was ‘Ramayanam’. In this he played the role of Lord Shri Ram. At that time his age was about 14 years.
The film received the National Film Award for Best Children’s Feature Film. Getting recognition at the national level at such a young age was considered a major achievement in his career. At the same time, the industry had realized that he would become a big star in future.
Became a lead hero at the age of 18
In the year 2001, Junior NTR debuted as a lead actor with ‘Ninnu Chudalani’. However, he got his real identity from ‘Student No. 1’. This was also the first directorial film of ‘S.S. Rajamouli’.
The film was a superhit and from here the successful pairing of Rajamouli and Jr. NTR started. Later both of them worked in 4 films including ‘Simhadri’, ‘Yamdonga’ and ‘RRR’. All four films were superhit.
Jr NTR with Rajamouli on the sets of the film ‘Student No. 1’.
‘Aadi’ and ‘Simhadri’ made him a mass hero
The success of ‘Aadi’ and ‘Simhadri’ made Jr NTR a superstar among the youth. His dialogue delivery, dance and energy were greatly appreciated by the audience.
Directors say that Junior NTR speaks long Telugu dialogues in one take without cuts. His memory is considered sharp and this is the reason why he is considered a strong performer of Tollywood.
10 lakh people attended the audio launch of ‘Andhrawala’
On December 5, 2003, around 10 lakh people reportedly attended the audio launch event of the film ‘Andhrawala’. The event took place in Nimmakuru village, which is the birthplace of Jr. NTR’s grandfather NTR.
According to reports, the government had to run 10 special trains to handle such a crowd. At that time, Junior NTR was 20-21 years old. Later he also mentioned this incident in The Kapil Sharma Show. It is still counted among the biggest fan gatherings in Tollywood history.
Junior NTR with co-actress Charmi Kaur in a scene from the film ‘Rakhi’.
Trolled due to obesity, then did tremendous transformation
At the beginning of his career, Junior NTR was trolled about his weight and looks. Especially during the film ‘Rakhi’, his weight reached around 100 kg.
After this he started working on himself and lost about 20 kg of weight for ‘Yamdonga’. The film was a superhit and her new look was also liked. Directed by SS Rajamouli, this film was later dubbed and released in Hindi as ‘Lok Parlok’ and in Tamil as ‘Vijayan’.
After this, he showed different transformations in films like ‘Badshah’, ‘Temper’, ‘Janata Garage’ and ‘Arvind Sametha Veera Raghava’. He was seen with 6 pack abs for the first time in ‘Arvind Sametha Veera Raghava’.
A terrible accident happened during the election campaign.
In 2009, Junior NTR campaigned for the Telugu Desam Party. His meetings attracted huge crowds and he was considered the future of the party.
On 27 March 2009, his car met with a serious accident near Nalgonda district. The accident was so terrible that he fell out of the SUV. He suffered serious injuries and underwent long-term treatment. After this he distanced himself from politics.
Junior NTR’s wedding is considered to be one of the most grand and expensive weddings in the history of Indian cinema.
100 crore wedding was discussed
Junior NTR married Lakshmi Pranati on 5 May 2011 in a grand ceremony in Hyderabad. According to the report of Zoom TV, around Rs 100 crore was spent on this wedding. Lakshmi Pranathi is the daughter of businessman Narne Srinivasa Rao and Narne Mallika.
Mallika is the niece of former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu. According to reports, Chandrababu Naidu played an important role in finalizing this relationship.
A pavilion worth Rs 18 crore was built, heavy arrangements were made for security.
According to reports, a huge mandap was prepared for Jr NTR’s wedding at a cost of around Rs 18 crore. The pavilion was decorated in traditional South Indian temple style and took several days to complete.
Big personalities from the film industry, business and politics attended the wedding. In view of the huge crowd, special security arrangements were made. This ceremony was counted among the most talked about celebrity weddings of that time.
Lakshmi Pranati became a bride wearing a saree worth Rs 1 crore
The most talked about thing at the wedding was Lakshmi Pranati’s red Kanjeevaram saree. According to reports, its price was said to be around Rs 1 crore. It is said that this saree was donated after marriage.
Jr NTR and Lakshmi Pranathi have two sons, Abhay Ram and Bhargav Ram. The actor’s wife prefers to stay away from the limelight and is rarely seen in public events.
The death of brother and father had broken the family.
In 2014, Junior NTR’s elder brother Janaki Ram died in a road accident. After this, in August 2018, his father Nandamuri Harikrishna also died in a road accident. Junior NTR was unable to control himself during his father’s funeral. He was so distraught that step brother Kalyan set his father on fire.
These incidents broke Junior NTR to the core. After his father’s death he took a long break from films.
Global star made from ‘RRR’
After four years, Junior NTR made a strong comeback with RRR in 2022. The character of Komaram Bheem played by him in the film was liked all over the world.
The song ‘Natu Natu’ from the film created history by winning the Oscar. After this, the popularity of Junior NTR reached the whole world. After the success of this film, he worked in ‘Devra: Part 1’ and ‘War 2’.
Lovers of luxury cars, all numbers are ‘999’
Jr NTR likes number 9 and considers it as his lucky number. This is the reason why most of their luxury cars have numbers 999.
His car collection includes expensive cars like Porsche 718 Cayman, Range Rover and Lamborghini Urus.
Distance from politics, full focus on films
Despite coming from such a big political family, Junior NTR has not yet entered active politics. While talking to Times of India, Junior NTR had said that politics is a big responsibility and at the moment his entire focus is on films.
Junior NTR is also ahead in social work
Apart from films, Junior NTR has also been associated with social work. He has been helping in education, health and disaster relief operations from time to time. During the Covid-19 pandemic, he provided financial assistance to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
Apart from this, he keeps helping the needy workers and fans of the film industry. The special thing is that Junior NTR does not publicize his social work much.
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