Why Nandamuri Balakrishna's Collaboration With Director K. Raghavendra Rao Never Worked

Director K. Raghavendra Rao is widely recognised for his remarkable contributions to Telugu cinema, infusing each of his films with unique visual poetry. Renowned for his diverse range of movies, he has created numerous blockbusters that have enthralled audiences. However, when it comes to collaborating with the illustrious star hero, Balakrishna, the director’s success seems to have eluded him.

Despite their partnership spanning seven films, K. Raghavendra Rao has yet to deliver a blockbuster with Balakrishna in the lead role. Let’s delve into this intriguing dynamic between the director and actor as we explore their joint endeavours and the distinctive style that has shaped their cinematic journey.

The duo’s first movie, ‘Rowdy Ramadu Konte Krishnadu,” performed moderately at the box office. In this movie, the actor Balkrishna shares screen time with his father. The second film of Rao and Balkrishna collaboration was ‘Pattabhishekam,” in which the actor goes to a palace as a fake doctor to make some money to clear his debts. The movie focuses on several problems coming his way. This film, too, was average at the box office.

The next film, which was above average, was where the actor played a double role for the first time in his career. It was their third project together followed by their fourth venture ‘Sahasa Samrat,” that turned out to be a super flop. The movie was unable to do well at the box office.

‘Donga Ramudu,” released in 1988, was a family drama that again performed below average, as it failed to meet the expectations of the audience. This was their fifth movie in which they worked together.

Balayya and Bhushan Sobhan Babu starred in the movie ‘Ashwametham,” directed by K Raghavendra under the banner of Vyjayanthi, which was again a super flop.

In their next and last collaboration, ‘Pandurangadu,” the actor Balayya performed in two roles, one as a god and one as a devotee. It was a remake of ‘Panduranga Mahatyam’. As per reports previously, the movie was named ‘Ranga Panduranga,” but later ‘Pandurangadu was finalized. This film by the duo did not do well at the box office.

Trying his hand in almost every genre, Raghavendra was unable to give any superhits with Balakrishna, but he did many superhits with other actors under his direction.