Bimbisara actor Nandamuri Kalyan Ram: I owe my career to ‘babai’ Balakrishna, never knew a set before Bala Gopaludu

In a promotional video ‘Up Close with NKR’ ahead of Bimbisara’s release, the actor-producer takes us through the highs and lows of his film career

Nandamuri Kalyan Ram

Many eyes are on the socio-fantasy Bimbisara to help give a new lease of life to the career of actor, producer Nandamuri Kalyan Ram. The film, which releases on August 5, is directed by a newcomer Vassishta while Samyuktha Menon and Catherine Tresa play female leads. The songs are composed by Chirrantan Bhatt while MM Keeravaani has provided the background score.

As part of Bimbisara’s promotional campaign, the makers have released a video, Up Close with NKR, where Kalyan Ram bares his heart out, taking viewers through the many crests and troughs of his career. In the video, he credited his uncle, Balakrishna, for launching him in films despite his father Hari Krishna’s reluctance. As a child artiste, his first film was Bala Gopaludu in 1989.

“I didn’t know anything about shooting or sets or that we should act whenever someone says ‘action’. Bala Gopaludu was my first brush with films. Babai took care of everything. My career began with Kasi Viswanath’s Tholi Choopulo and Abhimanyu, which didn’t fare too well. I was disappointed and the phase was a great learning curve and helped me understand what I really want,” he said.

A lot of people asked him about failing in films after leaving a job in the US, but he saw it as a stepping stone to success. “It made me more passionate and enhanced my quest to learn more about cinema.” Athanokkade helped him prove himself as an actor. “To stay abreast with changing times and technology, I made a 3D film Om. It failed at the box office and left me with a lot of sadness.”

Pataas gave a new direction to his career and he adds that Telugu cinema’s scale has grown phenomenally over the years. “It’s all due to Baahubali, it took our cinema to the world. The pandemic slowed us down later. The industry revived with RRR’s success. Ram Charan and Jr NTR performed very well. Taarak was unbelievable in Komuram Bheemudo…”

The strategy behind the episodic promotional series is interesting and one wonders what Kalyan Ram will share in the second episode of Up Close With NKR.

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