Family
In May 1942, at the age of 20, while still pursuing his Intermediate, NTR married Basava Tarakam, the daughter of his maternal uncle. The couple had eleven children- seven sons and four daughters. The sons were (Late) Nandamuri Ramakrishna Sr., Nandamuri Jayakrishna, (Late) Nandamuri Saikrishna, Nandamuri Harikrishna, Nandamuri Mohanakrishna, Nandamuri Balakrishna and Nandamuri Ramakrishna Jr.. The daughters were Garapati Lokeswari, Daggubati Purandeswari, Nara Bhuvaneswari and Kantamaneni Uma Maheswari.
His eldest son Nandamuri Ramakrishna Sr. died in 1962, soon after NTR completed shooting of the film Dakshayagnam. NTR founded the film studio Ramakrishna Studios in Nacharam in his memory. His fourth son Nandamuri Harikrishna is a child actor-turned-politician elected to the Rajya Sabha, representing the TDP. Harikrishna's sons Nandamuri Kalyan Ram and Jr. NTR are also actors in the Telugu film industry (Tollywood), with the latter being one of the top actors in the industry today. Nandamuri Balakrishna is one of the leading actors in Tollywood from the late 1980's. He also started his career as a child artist. Balakrishna has plans to contest the 2014 assembly elections as a TDP candidate. Nandamuri Ramakrishna Jr. is a film producer. Nandamuri Saikrishna, who was a theatre owner, died in 2004 following diabetic complications. The other sons Jayakrishna and Mohanakrishna are noted cinematographers. Mohanakrishna's son Taraka Ratna is also a Tollywood actor.
NTR's second daughter Purandeswari is the sitting MP from Visakhapatnam representing the Congress. She is also the incumbent Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry. She is married to Daggubati Venkateswara Rao, who is also in the Congress and is distantly related to film producer D. Ramanaidu. His third daughter Bhuvaneswari is married to Nara Chandrababu Naidu.
Basava Tarakam died of cancer in 1985. In her memory, NTR established the Basavatarakam Indo-American Cancer Hospital in Hyderabad. In 1993, at the age of 70, NTR married again, this time to Lakshmi Parvathi, a Telugu writer. He became the stepfather to Lakshmi Parvathi's son from her first marriage, Koteshwara Prasad, as a result of the marriage. She was the author of his 2-volume biography, which was published after his death. However she was never accepted as a family member by NTR's family members, who kept a distance from her after NTR's death.
Read more about this topic: N. T. Rama Rao, Personal Life
Famous quotes containing the word family:
“I duly acknowledge that I have gone through a long life, with fewer circumstances of affliction than are the lot of most men. Uninterrupted health, a competence for every reasonable want, usefulness to my fellow-citizens, a good portion of their esteem, no complaint against the world which has sufficiently honored me, and above all, a family which has blessed me by their affections, and never by their conduct given me a moment’s pain.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
“It seems to me that upbringings have themes. The parents set the theme, either explicitly or implicitly, and the children pick it up, sometimes accurately and sometimes not so accurately.... The theme may be “Our family has a distinguished heritage that you must live up to” or “No matter what happens, we are fortunate to be together in this lovely corner of the earth” or “We have worked hard so that you can have the opportunities we didn’t have.””
—Calvin Trillin (20th century)
“Parenting is not logical. If it were, we would never have to read a book, never need a family therapist, and never feel the urge to call a close friend late at night for support after a particularly trying bedtime scene. . . . We have moments of logic, but life is run by a much larger force. Life is filled with disagreement, opposition, illusion, irrational thinking, miracle, meaning, surprise, and wonder.”
—Jeanne Elium (20th century)