NTR Kathanayakudu’, the first part of NTR Biopic, sent shockwaves in the trade with its poor collections all over Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
Directed by Krish, Nandamuri Balakrishna starrer “NTR Kathanayakudu” released on Jan 9 on the eve of Sarkranthi season.
As a film that was touted to be one of the biggest releases in the recent times, the film disappointed. Its collections for the first five days are shockingly low despite festival period.
There are many things that didn’t work. Here are the five possible reasons why the film received a big blow at the box office:
1) Reverential tone of the film
From the first sequence, the film showed NTR as god-like personality. Biopics work only when it also deals the dark secrets, and other “uncomfortable aspects” of the celebrity apart from showing their virtues.
In “Mahanati”, Savitri’s rise and fall and how she was cheated by, how she got addicted to alcohol was shown in honest way. In recent Bollywood blockbuster “Sanju”, which was based on Sanjay Dutt’s life, the movie also depicted many controversial topics related to the actor.
In “Kathanayakudu”, we only got to see NTR’s greatness. He is hero with no weaknesses or faults, that is how Krish showed him.
2) No emotional connect in the film
The film didn’t have no emotional connect. In “Sanju”, the father-son thread was used so effectively to move the audiences. There is no such connect here. Flat narration was seen.
3) Balakrishna losing popularity recently, many communities against Balayya
Nandamuri Balakrishna’s recent outbursts at various public forums have made many communities turn against him.
In recent Telangana elections, his election campaigning cost his party very dearly in Kukatapally and other constituencies.
In Andhra too, two strong communities got hurt with his statements. However, what is shocking is that his own Kamma community audiences also didn’t evince enthusiasm to watch this film.
4) Wrapping the movie in shortest time, leaving no room for correction
Perhaps to please Balakrishna, director Krish went ahead with the deadline of finishing the film in just five months.
A biopic on the legendary personality like NTR needs at least a year’s time for production and another six-months for post-production. But Krish finished the film in just five months and released the movie for Sankranthi.
Had the film was rechecked at the editing table and reshot the dull moments, the scenario would have been different.
5) Releasing all getups even as the shoot is under progress
There is no novelty factor when we saw Balakrishna in various getups of NTR in the film as all of them were already revealed as promotional photographs.
Nobody felt thrilled in the theaters. In fact, many people stayed away from the movie after watching those photographs.
