MID-DAY (October 13, 2017)

A proposed biopic on N T Rama Rao's life by filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma has kicked off a controversy in Andhra Pradesh. Varma has announced the film on the Telugu film legend and TDP founder's last few years and it has not gone down well with the ruling Telugu Desam Party as certain episodes in NTR's life are historically uncomfortable for its current leadership.

The principal opposition, YSR Congress, is also caught in the controversy as the film is being produced by one of its leaders. NTR's son, actor Balakrishna had first announced a biopic on his late father. It was supposed to portray NTR's life from childhood to films and his ascent to the chief minister's chair. Varma's name had cropped up as the director of the film but nothing was made official.

Then Varma was no longer a part of the film. The director later announced that he would go ahead with a film on NTR and gave it the title Lakshmi's NTR, after the Telugu icon's second wife Lakshmi Parvathi. "I thought choosing that part of his life to film will give the most comprehensive understanding of the man," says Ramu.