NTR: A Grand Legacy Of The SilverScreen
I am in my early eighties when I stopped before the legendary actor Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao’s house at Bazlluah Road, T. Nagar, on a summer evening as usual. I gazed at the plaque on the wall just beside the gate, on which the letters 'Nandamuri House' were inscribed.
Bahadur, a Nepali gurkha, came out of his wooden cabin by the side of the gate,, drew a chair for me to sit on and saluted me. He was also about my age and sat on a stool in front of me. Now the house was deserted except for the Gurkha, whom I had known since I was a teenager. He had grown incredibly close to the Nandamuri family, who lived in the house until their patriarch left for Andhra Pradesh to become the chief minister—and where he ultimately passed away. The Nandamuri family was also very kind to him and allowed him to continue living there.
I gave him a ten-rupee note for tea and began to chat about the good olden times.
“Saab (Sir), do you remember the golden days when tourists, most of them with tonsured heads from Tirupati, thronged to have a glimpse of NTR?"
“Yes, I do. " I replied, "Sometimes I used to accompany my relatives and friends who wanted to see NTR.”
“Yes”, he said, “when I opened the gate for his fans, they gave me a rupee coin each. The great saab appeared at the portico and wished them welfare with a wave of his hand. He smiled at them and enquired whether they had enough rain to harvest their paddy that season.”
His fans were thrilled as if they had the vision of a living god after their darshan of Lord Venkateswara at Tirupati. Sometimes he appeared before them in the makeup of Lord Rama or Lord Krishna, while readying himself for the shoot of a movie.”
“He took leave of them with utmost courtesy after chit-chatting for a few minutes.
He was almost a six-footer with a golden brown skin complexion and eyes, a long nose and mouth well proportioned in his broad face. He met all the parameters of male beauty according to the science of aesthetics. He was next only to Bellary Raghava, the great stage actor, in being the most handsome.
Actors are of two types: born actors and trained actors. Though NTR falls into the former category, he still strived to perfect his dialogue delivery by uttering the words in different modulations.
My memory of this great thespian went back to the times when I watched his movie ‘Aggi Ramudu’, at the age of five years.
I had been a great fan of NTR throughout my life. During my childhood, I had liked NTR in the get-up of a prince who brandished a long sword and killed the villain to save the princess.
When I grew a moustache on my upper lip and developed romantic feelings towards pretty girls, I admired him for saving a damsel in distress and ultimately marrying her after some twists in the story of a movie.
In my middle age I admired him for fighting social and political injustice as a police officer, lawyer or collector.
My late fifties saw this versatile actor in the iconic mythological roles of Lord Rama and Lord Krishna and many other puranic roles like Bheeshma or Arjuna. His histrionic talent as Brihannala, an eunuch dance teacher in Narthanasala, was praise-worthy. He learned dance steps from the Kuchipudi maestro Vempati China Satyam. He practised rigorously under his guidance for a month.
Now I attempt a little analysis of his acting talent according to the parameters of Bharata Muni, the author of Natya Sastra. The author divides the heroes into three categories as Dheerodaattha, Dheera Saantha and Dheeralalitha. A dheerodaattha is a noble, exalted and calm person like Satya Harischandra, Dharmaraja, etc. A dheerasaantha is a hero like Lord Rama, who is unperturbed even if the heavens fall down. Dheeralalitha is a hero like Lord Krishna who praises a person by his mouth but belittles the same person by the eyes.
In addition to playing the three types of heroic roles of dheerodaatthha, dheerasaantha and dheeralalitha, he played the role of dheeroddhatha, a powerful villain who offered tough resistance to the hero, in an inimitable style. Duryodhana and Keechaka are the strong ante heroes of this type portrayed by him.
Sri Krishna Pandaveeyam and Dana Veera Soora Karna were his iconic mythological movies in which he played the roles of Sri Krishna (dheeralalitha) and Duryodhana (dheeroddhata – the strong ante-hero) simultaneously.
Though his Sri Madviraat Parvam was not a success commercially, he ably played the five roles of Sri Krishna, Duryodhana, Arjuna, Brihannala (Arjuna in disguise as a eunuch) and Keechaka.
He played the role of Dheerodaatta, the hero Vallabhadeva, who suffers the pangs of love when separated from his love in the Srikakula Andhra Mahavishnu Katha movie in the duet song 'Kusalama' (the Srikakulam village in Divi Seema, Andhra Pradesh, should not be confused with the town bearing the same name in the Srikakulam district of the same state).
Even in the movement of the head (siro kampana), he met all the para meters of the Natya Sastra by Bharata Muni. There are 13 distinct types of head movements, which are as follows:
Ākampita (Shaken): Nodding the head up and down slowly.
Usage: Giving a command, questioning, or ordinary conversation.
Kampita (Trembled): Moving the head up and down rapidly.
Usage: Expressing anger, realization, or assertion.
Dhūta (Tossed): A slow, side-to-side rotation of the head (like shaking the head "no").
Usage: Forbidding, showing confidence, or sadness.
Vidhuta (Vibrated): Quick and sharp side-to-side movements of the head.
Usage: Indicating cold, panic, terror, or a sudden fever.
Parivāhita (Circumducted): Moving the head smoothly from side to side in an infinity or circular motion.
Usage: Expressing joy, surprise, or passion.
Udvāhita (Raised up): Tilting the head upwards and looking up.
Usage: Showing pride, looking at high objects, or displaying bravery.
Avadhūta (Lowered): Bending the head down side ways once.
Usage: Signaling someone to come closer, beckoning, or invoking a deity.
Añcita (Bent): The head is slightly tilted to one side.
Usage: Expressing sickness, fainting, or intense concentration.
Nihañcita (Shoulders Raised): Tilting the head while raising the shoulders up to touch the neck or ears.
Usage: Depicting feminine pride, amorous playfulness (lilā), or arrogance.
Parāvṛtta (Turned away): Turning the head completely around to one side.
Usage: Looking away out of anger, shyness, or avoiding someone.
Utkṣipta (Thrown up): Elevating the chin and turning the face upward obliquely.
Usage: Indicating high objects, looking at planets, or showing acceptance.
Adhogata (Downcast): Lowering the head entirely, looking straight down.
Usage: Expressing shame, deep sorrow, or bowing down in salutation.
Lolita (Rolling): Rolling the head loosely in all directions
NTR’s head movements in mythological, historical and social movies are ample examples of this criteria.
'Raktha Sambandham’ and 'Justice Choudhary' elicit special mention among his great social movies. The hero decides to kill his would-be brother-in-law, as he disapproves of the alliance. The expression of repentance in his face when he secretly overhears his sister saying that she will not marry the person in question against her brother’s wish, was simply superb.
NTR’s mental conflict in the role of Justice Choudhary as the chief justice who prioritises justice over his filial affection when his son, a cop, is implicated in a false case is well portrayed in a musical soliloquy, ‘chattaniki, nyayaniki jarige…'.
My summing up of the histrionic talents of NTR is only a bird's-eye view. I am aware that what I write about him is just a droplet in the ocean of his multifaceted personality.
Even if I write voluminously about this great actor, much more remains to be written. It is only my humblest estimate of him. That is all.
I am not a well-versed film critic, and what little I write about the great thespian are the modest impressions of an average cinegoer.
I humbly keep myself away from the details of the upheavals in his political career in the twilight of his life and his sad end due to cardiac arrest at the age of 73.
"Saab," the gurkha said, "rath hogaya (night fell)."
It was a signal for me to get up and return home.
Postscript: "I was sad when the Gurkha said he didn't think NTR would be reborn, because God keeps him by his side forever in Heaven."
It was heartening to learn that Chadalavada Kutumba Rao, a Telugu film producer, bought the NTR’s house at T.Nagar, Madras and proposed to convert it into a museum with the wax figures and photographs of NTR.
A few snippets which will showcase NTR’s histrionic talents. Just click on the links to watch the videos.
NTR as Duryodhana in the Maya Sabha scene in ‘Sri Krishna Pandaveeyam’ and ‘Daana Veera Soora Karna.’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpL0GHap390&t=2s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6DlHdJzDZ8&t=72sBheema (NTR) threatens in a poem to break Duryodhana’s thighs with his mace in a ferocious battle when the latter orders Draupadi to be disrobed in the court in ‘Pandava Vanavasam. ’.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5WgJao5HMMNTR’s powerful acting in his sixties as a retired army major who visualises the great patriots Shivaji Maharaj, Veera Pandya Kattabomman, Alluri Sitarama Raju and Subhash Chandra Bose in a song in ‘Major Chandrakanth. ’.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvjm_IdIocY&list=RDlvjm_IdIocY&start_radio=1NTR’s mental conflict in a song as Chief Justice who has to deliver a judgement against his son, falsely implicated in a case.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NoIbeMeuvA&list=RD3NoIbeMeuvA&start_radio=1NTR as Vallabhadeva in Srikakula Andhra Maha Vishnu Katha experiences the pangs of love for Princess Sujatha (Jamuna).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VfNktqjifQ&list=RD5VfNktqjifQ&start_radio=1NTR’s repentance in ‘Raktha Sambandham', when he overhears the conversation between his reel sister, Savitri, and reel's would-be brother-in-law, Kanta Rao
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4d9jTiNUMINTR, the hero for the masses, in the role of a forest officer, exhorts the tribals to rise to the level of Valmiki, Sabari, and Ekalavya in ‘Adavi Ramudu'.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTB16KyaYm4&list=RDmTB16KyaYm4&start_radio=1
NTR, in his sixties, is acting in a duet song with Jayaprada with the ease of a youth of five and twenty in ‘Adavi Ramudu'.
No comments:
Post a Comment