NTR to Chiranjeevi: How films, politics connect two prominent Telugu families now at the helm of Andhra Pradesh

As Chandrababu Naidu took oath as the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh on June 12, among the who’s who on the stage were members of two influential Telugu families.

While the extended family of former state CM Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao, or NTR as he was popularly known, is again at the forefront of the politics in the state, the rise of JanaSena Party (JSP) chief and Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan, who is the brother of popular actor Chiranjeevi, has brought the focus on to his family too.

The images from the event highlighted the almost symbiotic relationship between films and politics in the state. Over the decades, members of dominant agriculturalist castes such as the Kammas and Kapus cemented their place in the Telugu film industry, developed other business interests, and forayed into politics.

A widely popular actor from the 1950s to the late 1970s, NTR, with about 300 films under his belt, is remembered for playing mythological characters. His films Mayabazar (1957), in which he played Hindu deity Krishna, and Daana Veera Soora Karna (1977), a film on the life of the Mahabharata character Karna, are considered classics of Telugu cinema. NTR directed the latter and played four roles in the film.

His movie career helped him create almost a mythic imagination among Telugu people. He forayed into politics in 1982 by setting up the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) to create a strong regional opposition to the Congress. He went on to become a three-time CM.

Academic SV Srinivas, who teaches at the School of Arts and Sciences at Azim Premji University in Bengaluru, writes in his book Politics as Performance A Social History of the Telugu Cinema: “NTR’s election campaign was characterised by a performativity straightforwardly traceable to his