New Delhi: Twenty eight May, 2023 marked the birth centenary of Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao, fondly called NTR. A political stalwart, who laid the founding of Andhra Pradesh’s Telugu Desam Party TDP), Rao was also one of the most revered actors in the Telugu film industry.
In “NTR: A Political Biography”, author Ramachandra Murthy Kondubhatla attempts to trace Rao’s journey from a small village in Andhra to stardom and subsequently a thriving political career.
NTR was born in a small village near the city of Machilipatnam. After completing his bachelor’s degree from Andhra Christian College, he qualified for the civil services in the then Madras Presidency under British India.
The hero-to-be left the job to pursue a career in acting, and soon landed a walk-in role as a policeman in the 1949 movie “Mana Desam”. NTR starred in over 300 films and directed a dozen of them in a three-decade acting career.
His tryst with politics began in 1982. NTR founded the Telugu Desam Party with the objective of protecting India’s Telugu speaking people. TDP emerged victorious in the 1983 assembly elections, and formed the first non-Congress government in united Andhra Pradesh. NTR presided over as the chief minister.
Author Kondubhatla has said of the star-politician: “The celluloid demi-god rekindled the self-respect spirit of Telugus and earned them their individual identity when all South Indians were deemed Madrasis.”
Published by HarperCollins India, “NTR: A Political Biography” will be released on 13 June on Softcover, ThePrint’s online venue to launch non-fiction books.
Swati Chopra, Associate Publisher HarperCollins India, said: “An honest evaluation of NT Rama Rao, who left his larger-than-life imprint not only on Andhra politics but on the national stage, was long overdue. This book, which publishes in time for NTR’s 100th birthday on 28 May this year, is a comprehensive analysis of his politics and his times, richly populated with the characters who shaped his life and the political stage of that era. There could not be a more fitting tribute to the man and the legend than NTR: A Political Biography.”
Kondubhatla is a journalist who has served as a public policy advisor for the Andhra Pradesh government. He held prominent positions such as editorial director of Sakshi Media Group and Managing Director and CEO of Hyderabad Media House Ltd. Under his leadership, Hyderabad Media House operated HMTV, a Telugu news TV channel, and The Hans India, an English newspaper.
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