Ram Gopal Varma's next film is about NTR and Lakshmi Parvathi, the marriage that shook Andhra Pradesh

Ram Gopal Varma is going to do it again. He has announced another film project centred around a controversial figure in the political landscape of Andhra Pradesh. The film, Lakshmi’s NTR, will take a look at Telugu screen demigod NT Rama Rao through the eyes of his second wife Lakshmi Parvathi.

RGV formally announced the project on Tuesday. He has already revealed the poster for the film on Facebook. The loaded image shows the feet of a woman crossing the threshold into a room where an ageing NTR sits in the dark.

The film is sure to rub a lot of people off the wrong way, including Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu.

NTR’s political career nosedived after Lakshmi Parvathi entered his life. He was removed as Chief Minister by a coup in 1995 within the party he had founded, the Telugu Desam Party. The revolt had been headed by NTR’s son-in-law Chandrababu Naidu, with help from his own sons. 

NTR’s family and party had not taken well to him living with Lakshmi Parvathi, a divorced former Sanskrit teacher who had become his biographer.

Just four months after his ouster, NT Rama Rao died. NTR retains the status of a demigod in the Telugu-speaking regions. Attempting to tell his story through the eyes of one of the most controversial people in his life even while his family members are in positions of power is bold, even for Ram Gopal Varma.

“One single step that created love in the heart of one man but also hatred in hundreds. But that single step also remotivated him to once again make millions of people love him. This is the story of Lakshmi's NTR. It's a love story full of hatred, jealousy, power mongering, backstabbings and above all unbelievable inter relationship conflicts,” RGV posted on Facebook.

He has since actively dispelled a number of rumours about the film. He acknowledged that the producer of the film is a member of the YSR Congress, a rival of the TDP.  He insisted that he has no ulterior motives in trying to tell NTR's story. He also shot down rumours that Prakash Raaj would play NTR.

RGV is no stranger to the vibrant storyscape of Andhra Pradesh. A native of the state himself, he made a thinly-veiled two-part violent biopic on politician Paritala Ravi. Of course, Paritala Ravi was dead by then. Lakshmi Parvathi is not. What new storms is Ram Gopal Varma flying into? Lakshmi's NTR is expected to hit screen by the end of 2018.