Fans in Tollywood have always given their favorite stars love and adulation but few stars in modern era have a hysterical fan following who go to any lengths to defend their hero. Amongst them the stars who have a dependable and a solid fan base are Superstar Krishna, Megastar Chiranjeevi, Balakrishna and Power Star PawanKalyan. Of them all, the star who celebrates his birthday today, NandamuriBalakrishna has a special place in Tollywood who entered as a child artiste and won hearts gradually and slowly to reach the status of one of the most bankable stars in Tollywood.
Balayya, as he is affectionately called has entered the films much earlier during many of NT Rama Rao’s films but his debut film was a musical hit – “SaahasmeJeevitam” in which Ilaiyaraja scored lilting music. Early in his career, he has been lucky to work with directors like K Vishwanath, Jandhyala, Kodi Ramakrishna,SingeethamSrinivasa Rao, K Raghavendra Rao, Dasari Narayana Rao, B Gopal, SV Krishna Reddy who steadied and shaped his acting skills towards presentable peaks. He has managed to act under the great Bapu also After more than 32 years, and with 99 films under his belt, Balayya has become perhaps the most bankable hero in the film industry. If one analyses his career, here is why Balayya is indeed a “legend” in Telugu Film industry which makes him a worthy successor to his legendary father late NT Rama Rao.
Cost-Efficient Remuneration: In every decade that Balayya gave films, he ensured that his remuneration never became a stumbling block to do good films or become a reason that ratcheted up the costs of the film towards disaster. After 32 years, Balayya has delivered a number of commercial blockbusters every few years or so but has never increased his remuneration to levels that make his films “cost failures” or leave his producers and distributors in the dumps. Even when Superstars and Power stars rule the remuneration game with steady inflation-adjusted upward revisions, Balayya’s remuneration is, as per informed sources, less than 15 per cent of the total film – which is why his films always ensured a minimum guarantee for the producer. Whereas other contemporary stars of his era have priced themselves out of the market or became irrelevant because of exorbitant remuneration – this is a humble characteristic NBK inherited from the stars of the yesteryears like his own father NTR, ANR and Krishna.
Experimentation: Despite flawed films and hiccups in his career, Balayya never let one eye off the spirit of experimentation either in script, technicians, directors or even heroines. That spirit never left Balayya all his career – he did mythologicals (“Sriramarajyam”), historicals (“PandurangaMahatyam”), socio-sci-fi-fantasy films (“Aditya 369” and “BhairavaDweepam”) as well as rom-com family dramas while keeping the fans hooked with blockbuster commercial entertainment like “NarasimhaNayudu” and “Samara Simha Reddy” and “Legend”. He acted in multi-starrer films right from his childhood days and acted with actors like ANR, Krishna, ShobanBabu, Srikanth, Mohan Babu and others which speaks of his guts to dare and share the screen with other matinee idols.
Courage & Charishma: There were many occasions to show that Balayya had the gumption and courage to never budge even when his movie was releasing to clash with another hero’s film. Whether it is Sankranti or Dasera, Balayya never postponed his films even when the distributors or producer suggested to do. One instance is the Sankranti season in which “Narasimha Naidu” was going to be released along with “Devi Putrudu” starring Venkateshiun 2001. Venkatesh blinked and postponed the film’s release but Balayya didn’t. And his film won at the box-office. Again in 2004, Balayya’s film “Lakshmi Narasimha” clashed with Chiranjeevi’s “Anji” and again Balayya’s film scored a big win at the box office. It goes to show the gutsy way in which Balayya operates – never the first one to back off in the wake of any anxiety over a film’s success before its release.
Success in Politics & Life: With an illustrious career that delivered several blockbuster hits in every five-year phase of his career from “ApoorvaSahodarulu” to “MangammagaariManavudu” to “Lorry Driver” to “Simha” series hits and films like “Legend”, Balayya has achieved all-fame as a bankable and well-established star who can burn the screen with his swagger and style, great dancing, powerful voice modulation and dialogue delivery and entertainment ability. He has also achieved balance and success in politics as an MLA in Hindupur and now settling his daughter into alliance with the ruling CM of AP. His decision to pick a great historical of “GautimputraShatakarni” as his 100th film and “Raithu” (with Krishna Vamshee after that) will complete the peaks of a glorious career before the 3rd generation NandamuriMokshagna enters the arena.
The proof of Balayya’s enduring appeal lies in his massive fan following today on the social media as well as the adulation and respect shown by stars from his family like NTR Jr, NandamuriKalyan Ram (who dedicated a song in tribute to his uncle in “Pataas”) and others like Naani (who plays Balayya fan in “Krishna Gaadi Veera PremaGaadha”). However, what cannot be gainsaid is that his career was not by luck or accident or genetic code alone; behind Balayya’s colossal rise as a “Nata Simha” lies a well-calibrated strategy with attributes that defined his success throughout, as mentioned above. Happy Birthday to our dear Star NandamuriBalakrishna. Happy Birthday Balayya!
