Decoded: Multiple Shades Of Balayya On Skanda Stage

Nandamuri Balakrishna’s stage presence is always a topic of discussion. He often shifts his focus towards others during events, even if they are related or unrelated to his own movies. His reactions and actions on stage are quite distinct as he sometimes pulls pranks on others, gets angry on occasions, and behaves like a child. And the way he showcased multiple stages of his character at ‘Skanda’ trailer launch event became the talk of the town now.

While Balayya showcased impatience at one point due to the excessive bhajana around him, what is the biggest highlight of the evening was his speech. Quoting Sanskrit shlokas which no one could really understand the meaning of, Balayya captivated the audience as he explained that the shlokas are related to the title ‘Skanda’; and he loved the title. Later he spoke about the greatness of his father as he explained how the legendary NTR laid the foundation to take the Telugu film industry to the next level and how the present generation is taking it more forward (Maybe hinting at the recent National Awards sweep by Pushpa & RRR).

Balayya heaped praises on Ram Pothineni, calling him ‘Ismart Shankar’ who led him doing a film in Telangana slang. “I’ve done a Degree following Ram who has done a PhD. As he used Telangana slang effectively in Ismart, I appeared as Nelakonda Bhagawant Kesari in my next movie. And now he’s doing Ismart Shankar 2, which challenges me again” said Balayya, which showcases how down-to-earth he is when it comes to taking inspiration from anyone.

Later Balayya gave a history of a young ISRO scientist who hailed from Alampur Gadwal district and he helped the mission Chandrayaan 3. “One Maddireddy Krishna, the son of a Kummari, from the district, designed an apparatus for a recent ISRO mission, Chandrayaan 3, which landed in the south pole of the Moon. He passed tests of ISRO, working in the government after writing Groups and designed a component that detects seismic activity on the moon” said Balayya, leaving everyone with his eye for detail.

Rather than just saying the young scientist’s name, Balayya delved into the history, family names, occupation and background while talking about the scientist. Who would have such a grip on the local history and current affairs, if not Balayya? Right now the clip where the Nandamuri star hailed the ISRO scientist is going viral on social media for the very same reason.

Balayya later hailed Sreeleela as a bundle of talent, a ‘padaharu anaala Telugu girl’ for her good looks, dances and dedication, and said ‘hats off’ to her. He blessed her with his hand and stated that he observed her dedication on the sets, and also got amused that she never shows a sign of tiredness on the stage even though she’s working a lot these days. He hailed Thaman for his work though put jokes on his huge personality, but then praised him for his enormous background score that helped Akhanda break the sound boxes as well as records. What a sporty talk that is.

He praised every single artist and technician, calling them by names. No doubt, his arrival at the event brought a new shine and the way he has portrayed multiple realistic shades of his persona is currently giving energetic vibes to the film world.

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