Balakrishna in fatigues
- IndiaGlitz, [Thursday,July 08 2004]
After legendary ÂNTRÂ and evergreen Krishna, it is the turn of colorful star Balakrishna to don the fatigues in his next release ÂVijayendra VarmaÂ.
It is a tale of a high-ranking military officer who brings pride to the nation, says director Subbarao, explaining his tag line: ÂPower of an IndianÂ.
He has fused a love story into this patriotic theme to make it a complete entertainer: He intends to release it in September.
With just two exceptions, Telugu stars have avoided donning the military uniform since itÂs not considered a safe bet commercially. ÂNTR and Krishna, however, delivered blockbusters in this genre. NTRÂs ÂBobbili Pulli and KrishnaÂs ÂChikati Velugulu proved that such films could be money-spinners, but others did not jump in.
ÂChikati Velugulu told the tale of a military officer in a conventional mode, but ÂBobilli Pulli depicted the transformation of a recipient of Param Vir Chakra into a dreaded killer. In the court, the latter even justifies his killings by claiming that the duty of an officer is to eradicate enemies across and within the border.
But ÂVijayendra Varma; with three top heroines, seems to be a traditional tale of an upright officer.
It will be a memorable role in my career, says Balakrishna who is playing such a part for the first time in a 25-year-old career, excluding his brief appearance in fatigues in ÂMangamma Gari ManavuduÂ.