Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao
was a legendary Tollywood actor who worked mainly in historical,
mythological
and fantasy films. During a career which flourished in the black and white era of Telugu cinema, Sr NTR acted in several well-known films of the 50s, 60s and 70s.
Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao better known by his name Sr NTR was born in
Nimmakuru
, a small village in Gudivada taluk of Krishna District on May 28, 1923. Since his schooling days, NTR showed interest in drama, poetry, dance and acting.
After quitting his government job, he came to Madras in the 1940s and made his film debut in the 1949 film ‘
Mana Desam
’. He went on to work with directors like LV Prasad, BA Subba Rao, KV Reddy, BN Reddy, D Yoganand, C P Deekshith, BS Ranga, Vedantam Raghavaiah, etc, however his work with Kadiri Venkata Reddy for ‘
Maya Bazar
' in 1957 that got him lasting acclaim.
He worked in several mythological,
historical and fantasy films
with actresses like Savitri, Bhanumathi Ramakrishna, TG Kamala Devi, Lakshmirajyam, Anjali Devi, Jamuna, Jayasri, B Saroja Devi, Rajasulochana, Krishna Kumari etc.
He also did a series of historical and mythological films including, ‘Mayabazar’, ‘Gundamma Katha’, ‘Missamma’, ‘Lava Kusa’, ‘Daana Veera Soora Karna’, ‘Badi Panthulu’, ‘Yamagola’, ‘Narthanasala’, ‘Raktha Sambandham’, which gave him unbelievable popularity and formed a demi-god status among masses.
He established a political party named ‘
Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in 1982, and ruled as Chief Minister for three times in the period 1983 to 1995.
His films, many of them musicals, were known for music, classical dance, memorable songs and breath-taking dialogues. His last film was ‘Major Chandrakanth’ (1993).
Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao died of a cardiac arrest in Hyderabad on January 18, 1996 at the age of 72.