Hyderabad: For Ram Charan Tej and Junior NTR, the writing is on the wall, the future will indeed be troubling.This year, while many Tollywood heavyweights campaigned for their candidates and parties, Jr NTR and Ram Charan, both of whom had campaigned in 2009 stayed away and stuck out like sore thumbs. And this very fact might affect their careers in the days to come.
The backlash could come in the form of fan anger, a base Junior NTR relies on heavily. Ram Charan, meanwhile, could suffer if father Chiranjeevi is caught in a continuing political decline. Here’s how it all started.
Till the last minute, the Telugu Desam and Nandamuri fans had expected Junior NTR to set aside his differences with his family and campaign for the party, but that was not the case. Fans are especially upset as the actor did not turn up for campaigning despite stating in the past that he would remain in the TD for as long as he lived.
“Junior NTR wanted to campaign this time, but the party didn’t even speak a word about him. So he didn’t turn up,” says a source. Moreover, the differences between the actor and his uncle Balakrishna had also aggravated the situation, which may further affect the younger actor’s career.
“In Tollywood, the fans of these stars are based more on community and the community’s support is the main reason that they enjoy success at the box-office. Earlier, one of Junior NTR’s films bombed at the box-office because his community campaigned against him and boycotted the film. His future films too may be affected in the same way,” says the source.
Moreover, if the TDP comes to power in the state, it’s going to be a big jolt for the actor as many fear that it will affect his career,” adds the source.
While Junior NTR’s position is weakening because of this, Ram Charan’s career might be affected for different reasons. His father Chiranjeevi was a megastar as long as he was in films, but his political career has been his downfall. The actor-turned-politician could hardly attract any crowds while campaigning in Andhra Pradesh this time and, in some places, people even threw tomatoes and eggs at him.
On the other hand, Chiranjeevi’s younger brother, Pawan Kalyan, campaigned for the BJP-TD combine and drew huge crowds. The big question, thus, is will Chiranjeevi’s lack of popularity rub off on Ram Charan? It’s highly likely because much of Charan’s base are still fan clubs.
It is also important to note that Charan had said he was fully supporting his father and had never remained neutral about Pawan Kalyan. This stand however, did not lead to any actual campaigning for Chiranjeevi from his side. Insiders assume Charan’s staying away was also because of Pawan Kalyan’s presence in the Telugu Desam.
