Tamil superstar Rajinikanth said his past experiences stopped him from speaking about politics, but he still wanted to. Addressing a huge gathering at the centenary celebrations of Telugu icon Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao or NTR in Vijayawada on Friday, April 28, he said, “Looking at this huge crowd, I feel like talking about politics. My (past) experience tells me I shouldn't, yet I must speak.”
Rajinikanth – who dropped his plans to enter politics in 2021 citing his frail health – recalled how he was inspired by NTR. He showered praise on his son and leading Tollywood actor Balakrishna and appreciated the vision of former chief minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president N Chandrababu Naidu.
The actor praised Naidu for his vision and said the world knew about it. He pointed out that Naidu developed Hyderabad into an Information Technology (IT) hub. He said if lakhs of people were employed in the IT sector now, it was because of Naidu.
The actor who spoke in Telugu, said that the first film he watched of NTR was Patala Bhairavi and it left a deep impression on him. He said when he was working as a supporting actor and villain, a director approached him and wanted to know if he would act in a film as a hero.
"At that time I was not interested in working as a hero. The director told me to hear the script at least once and revealed that the title of the movie was Bhairavi. The moment I heard the name of the movie, I accepted it," said Rajinikanth.
The Tamil superstar said that when NTR came to Chennai to celebrate the success of Lava Kusa, he watched NTR from a distance. Rajinikanth was then 13 years old. He recalled that he was greatly impressed by the role of Duryodhana played by NTR in Srikrishna Pandaviyam.
"When I was working as a bus conductor, I played the role of Duryodhana, played by NTR, at a function and because of the appreciation I received, I started taking an interest in acting," he said.
Rajinikanth spoke fondly about NTR's son Nandamuri Balakrishna known as Balayya. He said Balayya could do what neither he nor Amitabh Bachchan could do.
"My friend (Balayya) kills with his single look. With a single blink of an eye, a vehicle can blast and go up to 30 feet high. It cannot be done by Rajinikanth, Amitabh, Shah Rukh Khan or Salman Khan. The public won't accept it if we do that kind of stuff."
Rajinikanth said that the audience accepted whatever Balayya did on screen because when they looked at him, they saw his father NTR in him.