Tollywood bids a tearful farewell to Harikrishna

In a tragic turn of events that left Tollywood mourning, actor-politician

Nandamuri Harikrishna

was killed in a road mishap on the early hours of Wednesday. The deadly accident took place at Narkatpally, when Harikrishna was on his way to attend the wedding of a fan’s son in Nellore. The 61-year-old was at the wheel, when his car hit a median on the Nalgonda highway and overturned. He was taken to a private hospital, but succumbed to the severe injuries he sustained. Harikrishna’s death is eerily similar to that of his son, Janaki Ram, who had also lost his life in a road accident at Nalgonda four years ago.

A dramatic life no less than a film
The fourth son of matinee idol NTR, Harikrishna dabbled in acting, politics and business, tasting reasonable, if intermittent, success in all three fields. His career in films though, was pre-destined. NTR initiated Harikrishna into films early on as a child artiste with roles in Sri krishnavataram (1967), Thalla? Pellama? (1970), Tatamma Kala (1974), all of which were received well. In what would go on to become a role of a lifetime for him, a 20-year-old Harikrishna enjoyed ample screen-time as Arjuna in his father’s magnum opus

Daana Veera Soora Karna

(1977). His younger brother Balakrishna, interestingly, was cast in the role of his son, Abhimanyu in the same film. In fact, it’s said that NTR had always imagined that Harikrishna would be the real successor to his legacy.

With his impressive screen presence, imposing persona, expressive eyes and booming voice, Harikrishna even looked the part. But it was not to be. NTR’s plans to launch him as a hero in his own production too didn’t materialise for reasons unknown. Perhaps Harikrishna realised that filling his famous father’s giant shoes would be no mean task. Perhaps he simply wasn’t interested in the arc lights and greasepaint. But what followed was a 20-year-long sabbatical from films.

An unlikely politician who called a spade, a spade

Having expressed interest in taking over the reins of NTR’s Ramakrishna Studio, the 80s saw Harikrishna live under the shadow of his politician-father, managing the day-to-day proceedings of the film studio.
He was also an active participant in NTR’s political innings, especially in the early part of the latter’s career as a politician. In fact, Harikrishna became famous as the driver of the ‘Chaitanya Ratham’ which saw NTR go on a state-wide tour to reach out to the masses.

Later, in the 1990s, he came to the fore as an unlikely, yet outspoken, politician. While it was Harikrishna who supported Chandrababu Naidu taking over the reins of the TDP in 1995, he was also the first person to question Naidu’s alleged double-standards of distancing the Nandamuri family from key positions in the party later. Though other children of NTR preferred to stay mute or move onto other parties, Harikrishna dared to challenge Naidu politically by floating the ‘

Anna Telugu Desam Party

’, which died a quiet death later. In a political career spanning a decade, he served as the member of

Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly

during 1996-1999 and was a Cabinet Minister for Road Transport in 1996. In 2008, he was elected to the

Rajya Sabha

.

comeback to films

Despite his distaste for the greasepaint, silver screened beckoned Harikrishna yet again. this time, he heeded the call. And surprisingly, what he had to offer was lapped up by the Telugu audience. It was his special appearance in Mohan Babu’s Sri Ramulayya(1999) that heralded his comeback. Y V S Chowdhary, a Nandamuri fan-turned-director/producer, gave him action-packed roles as the family patriarch in Seetha Rama Raju, Seethayya, Lahiri Lahiri Lahiri Lo. Most of these films celebrated 100-day runs in theatres. His histrionics, though largely a hat-tip to his father’s body language, were lauded by the Nandamuri fans. Even in his 40s, the actor’s commercial appeal couldn’t be underestimated. The latter half of the 2000s wasn’t as kind, though. After Tiger Harischandra Prasad, Swamy and Sravana Masam struggled at the box office, Harikrishna made another quiet exit. Constant rumours of his deteriorating health meant that an acting comeback seemed a distant possibility.

A tumultuous personal life
Harikrishna’s personal life was always under the scanner and offered plenty of fodder for the rumour mills. He fathered four children — two sons and a daughter from his wife, Lakshmi Nandamuri; and a son, NTR Jr, from Nandamuri Shalinee. And speculation was always rife that all was not well between the two sets of children. While the late Janaki Ram was a businessman at heart, his other sons Kalyan Ram and Jr. NTR got their solo hero debut projects, Toli Choopulone and Ninnu Choodalani, backed by Ramoji Rao. However, it was noticeable that the Nandamuri family didn’t do much to promote Jr NTR’s career in his early days. Harikrishna too couldn’t do much to change that perception, until Jr NTR was accepted into the fold after he became a big star.

He preferred to be the family man in his final years, distancing himself from active politics and films, and focussed instead on helping the family members bury the hatchet and putting up a united front in public.
He was a key link in making his family a well-knit unit, so much so that Kalyan Ram even went onto produce his brother Jr NTR’s film Jai Lava Kusa in 2017. His son Janaki Ram’s death was, however, a personal setback.
Prema Ishq Kadal director Pavan Sadineni was set to pull a casting coup with a film starring Harikrishna-Kalyan Ram in a project loosely based on a Hollywood film. The father-son duo is believed to have given a green signal to it as well. Alas, some dreams remain unfulfilled.

signing off with a flourish

In a selfless gesture, Harikrishna had recently penned a letter to the fans of Nandamuri clan asking them not to celebrate his birthday that falls on September 2. Instead, he directed them to transfer the funds and relief material to victims of the Kerala floods. Ups and downs notwithstanding, it’s this magnanimity of the star that will live on in the hearts of Nandamuri fans.