NTR biopic vs RGV's Lakshmi's NTR: Here are few things you need to know about the controversy

Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma, who is fondly known as RGV, has courted a controversy, by announcing a biopic on late legendary actor Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao (NTR) titled Lakshmi's NTR.

Vishnu Vardhan Induri, who is the founder of CCL and SIIMA, came up with the idea of a biopic on late NTR two years ago. He reportedly approached Nandamuri Balakrishna with this idea a year ago. The actor-turned-politician agreed to be part of the movie after listening to the first draft of the script. He had reportedly suggested Vishnu to assign a team to develop the script further.

When the news about this hit the net, several ace directors apparently evinced their interest to work on the biopic of late former Andhra Pradesh chief minister. But Vishnu Vardhan Induri could not finalise one as he was focusing on developing the script. He was said to be waiting to complete this work.

Ram Gopal Varma was one among the Tollywood directors, who were interested to work on this project. The filmmaker reportedly met Balakrishna on the sets of his close friend Puri Jagannadh's Paisa Vasool and expressed his interest to direct him. The actor assured to consider his name for the project on this occasion.

But without getting a confirmation, Ram Gopal Varma announced the movie and going a step ahead, he released a song on NTR. However, this soundtrack was similar to a tune of Raktha Charitra and did not go down well with makers of the biopic. Even Balakrishna was said to be not happy with this track and asked the producers to find out another suitable director for the movie.

If we are to go by the latest reports, Balakrishna has decided to launch his own banner and jointly produce the movie with Sai Korapati and Vishnu Vardhan Induri. The makers are said to have chosen Teja as the director of this biopic, which is likely to be made with a whopping budget of Rs 50 crore.

However, things would have been fine, if Ram Gopal Varma, who is known for courting controversies, had stopped there. He decided to challenge the makers of the film and announced another biopic on NTR - titled Lakshmi's NTR, which is reportedly based on Lakshmiparvathy's version of NTR.

RGV's Lakshmi's NTR stirred a debate in politics and film industry. While everyone in the Nandamuri family kept mum on the issue, NTR daughter Daggubati Purandeswari, the former Union Minister in Manmohan Singh's cabinet and present BJP leader, decided to bat for Nandamuri family.

Talking about RGV's Lakshmi's NTR, Purandeswari said that a biopic can not to be made on once person's perspective. "If anyone making a film on legendary NTR garu, it has to be made comprehensively. It is not fair to make a film on such a big personality based on a one person's point-of-view or perspective," a news portal quoted the BJP leader as saying.