Celebrities live glamorous lives. And a few of them become god for their fans. TDP founder-president and actor N.T. Rama Rao is one among those few.
NTR had a tremendous fan following, especially for his mythological characters. And the fan following continues even after his demise decades ago. His fans do anything and everything to grab a photograph of their beloved actor. Some are so obsessed that they do not mind stealing one.
And it’s no kidding, for this is the experience of Sripathi Satish Kumar, working president of the All-India NTR Fans’ Association and Telangana TDP secretary.
His father Sripathi Rajeswar, who was former MLA, founded the association. He used to organise NTR’s photo exhibition at every Mahanadu.
Mr. Satish Kumar is continuing the legacy after his father’s demise four years ago. He displays no fewer than 400 photographs of NTR at every exhibition, including some rare clicks that are not available on the Internet or in the market.
Not fewer than 20,000-25,000 people throng the photo exhibition, he says.
“People love to watch NTR’s photographs. Every film of his is a masterpiece, especially his titular characters such as ‘Vetagadu’ and ‘Dana Veera Sura Karna’, and mythological characters,” he says.
“People’s love for NTR is so intense that they quickly grab the pictures on display if no one is around,” adds Mr. Satish Kumar.
The crowd will be manageable on the first two days of the Mahanadu. But, on last day, it will be difficult to keep a tab.
One-fourth of the total collection of pictures will go missing by the time we close the exhibition, he says.
“NTR as Lord Rama or Lord Krishna will invariably go missing,” he adds.
Mr. Satish Kumar says e spends ₹1 lakh to ₹2 lakh on each exhibition.
NTR’s pose with grandson Mokshagna and son Balakrishna are some of the photographs that draw the attention of the visitors.
