Telugu star Nandamuri Balakrishna is still going strong as far as stardom is considered. His most recent Veera Simha Reddy, which went on to become a blockbuster, is proof enough that his star power still rivals those of younger leading men. The senior actor has had a history of starring in films with ‘Simha’ in the title. One of those many movies was the 1999 trendsetter, Samarasimha Reddy. The film which also starred Simran and Anjali Zaveri released on Sankranti 1999 and was Balakrishna’s parting gift to the millennium.
The story of the film, directed by B Gopal, was written by V Vijayendra Prasad of Baahubali and RRR fame. It is said that Gopal had heard 30 stories written by Vijayendra Prasad before zeroing in on one for Samarasimha Reddy.
During that time, demand for stories concerning love, romance and family predominated. At the time, it was the only movie to have a big box office success without a love theme. The movie did not even have a romantic track. Additionally, it was the first film with a faction-based plot to be a box-office success.
Samarasimha Reddy outlined the steps Telugu filmmakers needed to take to create a profitable commercial film. The Telugu film industry produced a lot of faction-based tale films in subsequent years.
Another interesting trivia about the film was that Nandamuri Balakrishna was not the first choice for the film. In its initial stage, the project had Venkatesh associated with it. Venkatesh was there even when B Gopal was selecting the right script from the 30 that Vijayendra Rao had to offer.
But when the director the script to Venkatesh, the actor felt that a hero with a larger mass appeal was needed for the project. He was the one who suggested Nandamuri Balakrishna to B Gopal. The name of the project was also changed from Samarsingham to Samarasimha Reddy. The film turned out to be a big success and a trendsetter for masala films in the Telugu industry.
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