Shiva Rajkumar prays for Taraka Ratna’s recovery, expresses interest to work with Balakrishna soon

The Rajkumars and the Nandamuris have shared a cordial rapport since the evolution of the Kannada and the Telugu film industries in the 1950s. While the likes of MGR, Sivaji Ganesan, Rajkumar, NTR, Nageswara Rao set an example for brotherhood in their heydays, the next generation of the clans has successfully taken their legacy forward. The equation between the sons of NTR and Rajkumar, Shiva Rajkumar and Balakrishna, is a clear reflection of the same.

Shiva Rajkumar even agreed to do a song appearance for Balakrishna’s 100th film Gauthamiputra Satakarni and was a part of the prestigious Lepakshi festival held in the latter’s constituency Hindupur. Now, it was the turn of good friend Balakrishna to support Shiva Rajkumar for the Telugu release of his Kannada hit Vedha. The Veera Simha Reddy star was the chief guest for the pre-release event of the film held in Hyderabad on Tuesday.

“I always saw Balakrishna as a brother, family member and I’ve never thought twice whenever he’s reached out to me (for Gautamiputra.. and the Lepakshi fest). Even while his nephew Taraka Ratna is in hospital, it feels special that he’s taken time out for my event and I’ll be indebted to him. I visited him in Bengaluru, pray for his quick recovery and I hope he sees the love that people have for him,” the star said.

“We are always one family, looked forward to the films of MGR, NTR, Sivaji Ganesan and Nageswara Rao as kids and are doing our bit to take this tradition forward,” he added. The Kannada veteran shared that he isn’t satisfied with one song appearance alone in Gautamiputra and expressed his wish to work on a huge film with Balakrishna in the future.

The next time around, he promised his fans that all his films will release across languages on the same day, unlike Vedha (which is having a delayed release). “Every family would want to have Vedha, Pushpa and Kanaka. My wife Geetha has produced this good film. Sorry that I was teary eyed while talking about Appu (Puneeth). I was 13 when he was born and to see him leave the world was devastating, to say the least.”