As NTR’s Devara : Part 1 gears up for a humongous release on September 27th, there is a lot of suspension not just in Tollywood but also in political circles on how the government of Andhra Pradesh responds on various permissions regarding ticket hike and special shows. NTR’s brother Kalyan Ram is the producer.
It is an open secret that NTR and Kalyan Ram have distanced away from Chandrababu Naidu and his Telugu Desam Party in the last few years. They hardly responded when Jagan’s government arrested Naidu and when leaders like Kodali Nani and Vallabhaneni Vamshi abused the Nandamuri family over the last five years.
The TDP cadre felt deeply upset whenever NTR stayed silent on several occasions. They seem to have disowned NTR and NKR completely due to their attitude. Some of the hard core supporters even called to boycott their films. Moreover, the strained relationship between Nandamuri brothers and Balakrishna, which was evident during many incidents in the last couple of years, is another reason why TDP and Nandamuri fans aren’t keen to support Devara.
Surprisingly, some of the recent developments appear to have brought NTR close not only to the family but also to the party. The way he welcomed Balakrishna’s son into Tollywood with a open heart keeping aside all his differences with the family came as a big surprise everyone. Also, he was the first hero to announce donation to AP government for Vijayawada floods.
It will be interesting to see if Chandrababu Naidu’s government allows a hike in ticket prices for Devara and grants permissions to screen midnight shows, which no big-ticket film has received recently. Even Prabhas’ Kalki also didn’t have any early shows.
If AP government honours the two requests of Devara producers, there are strong chances for NTR to reconcile his ties with the party and its cadre. We have to wait and see how things unfold in the next few days.
Koratala Siva directs Devara. It stars Saif Ali Khan and Jahnvi Kapoor in significant roles.
