Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s meeting with actor Junior NTR and media baron Ramoji Rao on Sunday, indicated that the BJP is planning to bring influential celebrities into their camp ahead of the 2023 Assembly elections in Telangana. According to sources, Amit Shah is likely to meet many such celebrities in the coming days as part of the BJP’s outreach campaign in the state. The meeting with Junior NTR, the grandson of legendary actor NT Rama Rao, who is also the founder of Telugu Desam Party, has raised several speculations including that Shah invited the actor to join the BJP. Reportedly, the meeting with the actor was facilitated by screen writer Vijayendra Prasad, who was recently nominated for a Rajya Sabha MP post by the BJP. Prasad is also the story writer of RRR, in which Jr NTR played the fictionalized role of Adivasi rebel leader Kumaram Bheem.
While the BJP maintained that the Union Minister was impressed by the performance of the actor in RRR, which also starred actor Ram Charan, son of Chiranjeevi, and Alia Bhatt, and hence wanted to meet him, political observers are viewing this as the strategy of the BJP to gain a foothold in both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
The meeting exhibits that the BJP is trying to match up with the TRS when it comes to exercising soft power. It is well-known that Minister KT Rama Rao, the TRS working president, enjoys a good relationship with almost all the top stars in the Telugu film industry, including Mahesh Babu, Pawan Kalyan, Chiranjeevi and Vijay Deverakonda. And he has been able to exploit this whenever the state government has faced a crisis. For instance, when four rape accused (two of them were minors) were killed in the Disha encounter, several Tollywood stars like Samantha, Rashmika and Jr NTR came in support of the police action. This was the time when the state government was facing severe public anger over the safety of women in the state. The endorsements by these celebrities helped in placating the angered public and also created a public perception in favour of the government, for delivering “instant justice.”
Political commentator and former MLC K Nageshwar says that the meeting between Shah and Jr NTR is certainly more significant than the meeting with Ramoji Rao, as the latter has always supported the BJP government.
According to him, it is an interesting move by the BJP, which is distancing itself from the TDP in Andhra Pradesh. Jr NTR, who is the son of former MP and actor Harikrishna, has been isolated from the NTR family and the party’s affairs for many years. He was actively involved in politics and had campaigned for the TDP in 2009. However, he has moved away from the party since.
RRR has created a pan-Indian star image for Jr NTR, and this could aid the BJP in terms of good will, Nageswar says. “The BJP tried a similar project with actor Rajinikanth but it failed. And now they seem to be trying the experiment with Jr NTR,” Nageswar says. Actor Rajinikanth who had announced he was entering politics in Tamil Nadu, backed off later, citing ill health.
Film industry people cozying up to those in power and being pro-establishment is not new and the BJP is not employing an entirely new strategy without any precedence. “Politicians keep reaching to film industry people as the reach to the public through them is more; conversely, such a relationship also benefits the industry. Currently in the Telugu states, Tollywood has a good relationship with the current TRS government and accordingly, the TRS government is catering to its needs, like hiking the ticket prices and increasing the number of shows in the state,” says Suresh Kaviyarani, a senior journalist.
“In the past, the then Union government under the Congress party met several Tollywood personalities like Superstar Krishna, Sarada and others. On the invitation of Rajiv Gandhi, Krishna joined Congress and has done films against NTR as well. Back then, the Congress government also gave permission and lands to several top studios, including Annapurna Studios, Ramanaidu Studios, Padmalaya Studios among others. Nandi Awards were also started by the Congress government to attract Tollywood stars,” says Suresh.
The inclination of Tollywood towards the RSS will also give popularity to the BJP in the Telugu states. Vijayendra Prasad, who has new-found respect for the RSS, has announced plans to write a film and a web series glorifying the RSS, the ideological parent of the BJP.