I saw him for the first time, 27 years ago. He looked at me from a Bush-TV (colour). He was being pushed by another ‘uncle’ in college, and then suddenly, he gave the ‘uncle’ such a punch in the face that he fell crashing into a bunch of BSA-SLR cycles. (I swear to God I did not mean to rhyme and alliterate).
I was six years old and very much in love!
The Youngest of the Tollywood Trinity
Chiranjeevi, Nagarjuna and Venkatesh -the holy trinity of ’90s Telugu flicks. I grew up on a steady dose of their films. In fact, their influence on me is as visceral as the influence of ‘Avakaya’ (Andhra style mango pickle) and curd rice, which I ate almost daily for about 18 years.
It is the prerogative of Telugu film Stars (note the capital ‘S’) to stay young on screen for decades. Sadly, they have no choice in the matter. And of the three Stars, Nagarjuna has done it with maximum grace and minimum effort. He’s like Milind Soman, but with acting chops.
Siva, and Then Some!
THE Nagarjuna film, of course, is still Siva (Shiva, in Hindi). RGV’s directoral debut, into which the director poured in almost all of his talent and soul (I think there was barely enough left for Sarkaar, Sathya and Kshana Kshanam, that’s all). And then there’s Mani Ratnam’s Gitanjali, which came out the same year as Siva (1989), to seal the deal. Nagarjuna has also played Shirdi Sai Baba, Saint Annamaiyya, Saint Ramadasu, a fictional freedom fighter and a range of Bollywood cameos.
He is one of the few Telugu actors to taste commercial success, despite experiments with characters, storylines and hatke outings, which have turned into cult films.
Unlike Chiranjeevi, Nagarjuna in Bollywood played someone he’s not usually allowed to play in Telugu cinema; a non-hero character. Here’s a half-minute scene from the mega-flop Agni Varsha. I wish they’d let him dub in his own voice. Despite the accent that would be inescapable; it would have brought in so much more.
The Cutest On/Off Screen Pair
One can’t speak of Nagarjuna without mentioning Amala. They remain the dream Jodi of the Telugus. They were both bombshells on screen, and then suddenly there they are, all happily married off! And that too for more than a couple of decades now! Will you look at all that cuteness!
Every Andhra teenager of the 1990s worth his pimples has worn a tucked-in shirt over jeans, grown wavy hair that would talk when he did and tried to snap a cycle chain with his bare hands. And everyone, from uncles to wannabe lovers from Class IX, has imagined themselves in this song, in and as the man and woman. (also featuring Kinetic Honda).
Both his sons are now actors. And the thing is, Nagarjuna has chosen to retire from playing younger roles.
Here’s a jukebox of songs and scenes that’ll help chart his story as an actor, and give us this day our daily dose of nostalgia.
1. Shiva - Botany Patam Undi song, ’89
This is the quintessential college song. Ilayaraja got the tune just right. And Amala is the cynosure of all eyes here. Until, of course, Nagarjuna takes over the vendetta later into the movie. I was barely six and I wanted to be in college!
2. Gitanjali - Om Namaha Song, ’89
The lip lock probably wins the contest for the longest kiss in Telugu cinema. Nagarjuna and Girija Shettar (who was bubbly, yet real) get busy in what clearly was an attempt to recreate the Roop Tera Mastana single take. I didn’t like the movie when it came out, because I was too young and everyone was just talking all the time. Needless to say, I grew into it.
3. Nirnayam - Comedy Scene, ’91
The entire movie is about how Nagarjuna woos Amala. There’s no real villain in the story and that was a completely radical concept in its time. Amala is badgered by Nagarjuna after a really bad ad meeting. Nagarjuna wants a caption for his ‘Avakaya’ company that he’s named ‘Geetha’, after Amala of course.
4. Hello Brother - Comedy Scene, ’94
This is one of the many guilty pleasures of a ’90s child. This movie is wrong on so many levels, but you can’t help laughing. There’s so much English interspersed in this Telugu, it’s possible you might get a drift of the comedy.
5. Criminal - Tum Mile, Dil Khile ’95
This song introduced Kumar Sanu to Telugu-land. It made us revise Aashiqui’s songs. And this is one of those tunes that goes into infinite loop with no effort. Don’t miss the ‘English’ narration by a husky female voice in the middle of the song.
6. Ninne Pelladatha - Comedy Scene, ’96
By this time Nagarjuna was this very very physical, very very young macho guy who could love and fight. And this movie packaged all of that machismo and charm into a tightly scripted rom-com-action movie. Here’s a scene, where he teases Tabu with her pet name, ‘Pandu’ (fruit).
Special Mention: Amma Bramhadevudo; Song of Awesomeness, ’94
This came out at the height of RGV’s fascination for Sridevi. It’s a caper that features Lord Venkateshwara of Tirupathi as one of the Leads. And then there’s this song.
King Nag Gets His Own Stamp for Birthday
Following King Nagarjuna’s debut as a singer with his rendition of ‘Kotha Kotha Basha’, a special stamp was released on Monday, the eve of his birthday, to commemorate his illustrious career, by none other than his songs Naga Chaitanya and Akhil.
His stamp was released alongside a stamp of the Taj Mahal in Hyderabad; a total of 10,000 stamps have been printed.
This is the biggest surprise in my life.King Nagarjuna
(This story is from The Quint’s archives and is republished to mark Nagarjuna’s birthday)
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