A political biopic releasing in a polling year is bound to present a point of view. The second part of the NTR biopic, Mahanayakudu , takes off where Kathanayakudu ended — with the announcement of NTR’s political party. Mahanayakudu focuses on the early 80s, when NTR won the elections to become the chief minister. The battle is half won, since he has to rise above internal turmoil to reaffirm his position in the party, state and show his might to the central government. The film is partly this political saga and partly a personal story, depicting the unflinching bond between NTR and his wife Basavatarakam, in her final years.
- Cast: Balakrishna, Rana Daggubati, Vidya Balan
- Direction: Krish Jagarlamudi
Director Krish Jagarlamudi does a quick recap and transports us into the campaign zone. Balakrishna is at ease playing NTR in his older years and does it with finesse. There are references to how NTR understands the need to connect with people and not rely merely on his charm from cinema to turn the tables at the elections. There isn’t much of a strategy, going by what’s shown on screen. A defunct van is spruced up and becomes the ‘Chaitanya ratam’ in which NTR tours the state. His soaring popularity makes the ruling party jittery.
The elections are advanced but NTR wins it like a breeze. There are little asides that prevent these portions from getting monotonous, especially those involving Basavatarakam (Vidya Balan) and Rukmananda Rao (Vennela Kishore). There’s a scene where the car they are travelling in breaks down and they hop on to a vehicle ferrying people to the campaigning spot, without revealing their identity. A little later, there’s a scene where Rukmananda Rao distributes laddoos as told by Basavatarakam. We don’t know if these are cinematic liberties or real incidents, but these sequences pan out well. Kishore induces just enough humour to keep us amused amid all the heavy political talk. Among the battery of actors in supporting parts, Kalyan Ram makes his presence felt as Harikrishna. Indira Gandhi gets a caricaturish depiction while P V Narasimha Rao (Suresh Kumar) fairs way better.
The real action begins when a storm brews, masterminded by Nadendla Bhaskar Rao (Sachin Khedekar brings in the necessary vileness). NTR gets timely help from his son in law Chandrababu Naidu (Rana Daggubati), who is shrewd enough to guess the opponent’s move and has the right tricks up his sleeve. Rana plays Naidu with élan. He hits the mark with the spark in his eyes and poker-faced expression that gives away nothing. There are occasional missteps, like a tilt of the head or a few movements that look forced when he tries to imitate Naidu’s body language. But for the most part, Rana is an actor in control.
The political turmoil drags on, with the furore in the Assembly getting ample screen time. The personal life, too, is stretched. Vidya does it with gravitas to make us empathise with Basavatakaram. However, these portions do get melodramatic.
Gnana Shekar films the proceedings with a great eye for detail and some of the songs (composed by Keeravani) are soulful. The rousing background score could have done with some toning down.
Mahanayakudu is a little over two hours, but feels longer. It also feels incomplete, since it’s a small part of the political journey and doesn’t actually portray what made him a ‘ maha nayakudu ’ (great leader). Would the biopic have worked better as one film, with a taut screenplay minus the indulgence? Maybe.
