AP residents visit Telangana to watch NTR film

Khammam: The curiosity among the people of Andhra Pradesh about Ram Gopal Varma’s film Lakshmi’s NTR, a political drama about the dethroning of Telugu Desam patriarch N.T. Rama Rao by AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, is paying dividends to the exhibitors of Khammam district.

The film was not released in AP due to the Andhra Pradesh High Court’s stay order, asking the producer to screen the film before it on April 3. The court will take a decision after viewing the content.

With elections round the corner in Andhra Pradesh, the movie is in the eye of a storm as the Telugu Desam allegedly tried to halt its release fearing that it could affect the image of Mr Naidu. The movie has been released in Telangana state. People from Nandigama, Tiruvur, Mylavaram, and Nuzivid Assembly segments in the Krishna district and Chintalapudi, Polavaram, and Jangareddygudem in the West Godavari district of AP thronged theatres in Aswaraopet, Sattupalli, and Madhira to watch the film where it was being screened.

Around 200 villages in the two AP districts are within a 30-km distance from these three towns in Khammam district.

Mr N. Venkateswarlu, manager of a theatre in Sattupalli, said, “The halt of its release in AP has raised curiosity among people, especially the followers of the YSRC.”

Mr N. Srinivasa Rao, a resident of Magallu in Krishna district, said, “Many people are not aware of all facts of the 1996 episode due to lack of electronic media then. Mr Varma’s thought-provoking depiction has provided a different perspective on NTR losing his position in the state.”