Hyderabad: It’s very common in politics to find movies featuring, directly or indirectly, political leaders in power especially in a positive light. But it is however very rare to see an opposition leader becoming part of a movie, and the film itself becoming a talking point because of him. K Chandrashekhar Rao (KCR) may not be in power of the Chief Minister (CM) of Telangana now, but his portrayal in the movie The Paradise has set-off a political storm on Telugu social media, with hundreds thronging to cinemas just to see him, or what the hype itself is about.
Of course, The Paradise has not received great reviews in general, but thats’a different matter altogether. Ever since the movie has launched, everything about it has been sidelined, with social media erupting over the scene of the politician in the movie playing KCR especially. Actor Priyadarshi has in fact done a near perfect job with playing KCR, which may not win him any awards, but he has certainly won the hearts of whoever loves the ex-CM.
All one had to do is type ‘KCR’ in the search box on Instagram and X, and only clips from The Paradise movie referencing KCR come up. It’s as if this was a reckoning waiting to happen, or a sign for the things to come. In fact, when Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leaders told Siasat.com that even they had no inkling over what was in the movie was about.
This may be true, as Telangana Chief Minister and Congress leader Revanth Reddy himself responded to actor Nani on X over his request to visit the movie theatre to watch The Paradise with his fans. It’s highly unlikely that Congress social media also was aware that the movie would add to KCR’s cult that already exists given that he spearheaded the state’s formation until it was achieved in 2014.
It may be noted that the movie is set in the 1980s in Secunderabad’s Paradise area. KCR was an MLA back then, and the movie also features the CM in the movie as NT Rama Rao, who in fact was in that position as Chief Minister of the joint Andhra Pradesh state in the 1980s.
“The director of the movie is from Pedapalli, so one can assume that given the theme of the movie, he comes from a left background. Why he decided to include KCR even we don’t know, but the Congress also certainly did not expect is as well. We were in fact told there may be something negative. But as of now, this small scene of KCR is what is driving people and his fans to theatres,” said a BRS leader.
Since Friday, social media has been abuzz with this entire episode. If your algorithm is set to receive local news, then it is likely that one out of every few posts will be of KCR’s portrayal in the movie.
Political analyst Palwai Raghavendra Reddy said that KCR’s cult has always been there, and that nobody in the state hates him. “The 2023 Assembly election results were against his arrogance. If you look at the schemes introduced by him like Rythu Bandhu or Mission Bhagiratha, people are now remembering him or still talking about it. Now that he is out of power, this movie is adding to his cult status,” he opined.
