Mahesh cashes in on Balaiah-Jr NTR rivalry

The incorporation of legend actor late N T Rama Rao’s scenes in “Prince” Mahesh Babu’s latest blockbuster movie Dookudu has raised many eyebrows, given the fact that NTR and Mahesh Babu’s father Superstar Krishna were arch rivals during their period.

“Dookudu” director Srinu Vaitla incorporated certain graphics showing senior NTR as the Prime Minister of India in the film; and this attempt has turned out to be a big hit.

The fans of NTR are thronging the theatres to watch their legend actor on the screen once again. It also brought a lot of cheers in Kamma community, for whom NTR stands as an icon.

Now, the story behind this NTR in Mahesh Babu’s film goes like this: It is a known fact in the film industry that Nandamuri family has given a brand image to the Kamma community in the Tollywood, though there are many other actors from that community. Of late, there have been rifts in the Nandamuri family, thanks to the growing popularity of young hero Junior NTR. Because of his facial and acting resemblances with senior NTR, people have started acknowledging him as the true successor of the legend actor.

Obviously, this has not been taken kindly by the Nandamuri family, which has been projecting NTR’s son Balakrishna as the true successor in politics and industry. Balaiah joined hands with his brother-in-law and Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu and began sidelining Jr NTR. This has led to a sort of cold war between Balaiah and Jr NTR camps.

Of late, Balayya was compelled to postpone the release of his latest film “Sri Rama Rajyam” to November, as Jr NTR had refused to defer the release of his film Oosaravelli. That irked Balayya fans first. And Jr NTR’s move to take over the management of Studio N from Chandrababu’s on Lokesh through his father in law Narne Srinivas was the flash point in the internal struggle.

And this has become a plus point for Mahesh Babu. By incorporating the scenes of senior NTR in the film “Dookudu,” he not only satisfied the Kammas, but also ensured that the film is a big hit!