Director Ram Gopal Varma has announced that his biopic on NT Rama Rao, Lakshmi’s NTR, will release in Andhra Pradesh on May 31.
The film stars P Vijay Kumar as NTR, Sritej as Chandrababu Naidu and Yagna Shetty as Lakshmi Parvathi.
Soon after he arrived in Vijayawada this week, the director met the press and said “the truth coming out is inevitable”, and took a jibe at Chandrababu Naidu’s defeat in the Lok Sabha elections, saying, “The person has been punished even before the release of the film.”
He was twice denied permission to hold a press conference to promote the film, with the Election Commission stating that he must follow election time rules. He was also detained at the Vijayawada airport last month after he tweeted that he would organise a press meet “in the middle of the road” at Pipula Road in the city.
According to Business Standard, he told the press on Sunday, “The incidents in the movie are 25 years old, but the characters are still in politics and among people. The truth can be suppressed, but its coming out is inevitable.” He also added, “The movie talks about a person who is seeking votes using NTR’s photos and what he did to him. The person has been punished even before the release of the film.”
He then announced another film, Kamma Raajyam lo Kadapa Redlu, in the spur of the moment, and said it would speak about the developments in the wake of the change of government in the State. “The title sounds good. I have just thought of it and will start writing the story soon,” he reportedly said.
The biopic on NT Rama Rao, which looks at the changes in his political and personal life after his second marriage to Lakshmi Parvathi, has gone through two date changes already.
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The release was stayed by the Andhra Pradesh High Court citing the model code of conduct. Members of Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party (TDP) had opposed the release saying that RGV had joined hands with YSR Jagan Reddy, now the newly-elected CM, to dent the TDP chief’s image. The producers of the biopic then approached the Supreme Court, but the SC refused an urgent hearing of their plea against the stay. Three theatres in Andhra Pradesh were also seized for screening the film against the court order this month.