Ram Charan & Jr. NTR opened up on ending their families’ 3-decade rivalries with their friendship

With RRR continuing its reign in the West with back-to-back wins at Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards 2023, respectively, SS Rajamouli and the lead stars Ram Charan and Jr. NTR continue their Academy Awards campaign with media promotions in Hollywood. It is to be noted that while the two actors are close friends in real life, it wasn’t always the same between their families. Their families were arch-rivals due to politics for three decades before Charan and Rao ended that long-time feud.

Speaking to LA Times, the two of them revealed that it was a practice session for a celebrity cricket match several years ago that changed the dynamic between the two actors. They transitioned from being acquaintances to becoming close friends, therefore, ending that three-decade family feud. They now live a few steps away from each other in Hyderabad. “The whole concept of having a rivalry brought us together,” Ram Charan said. “The only path we could take was friendship because we were bored of [the] news of rivalry for more than three decades.”

“It’s simple physics,” Jr. NTR said. “Opposite poles attract. Charan gets attracted to what he doesn’t have in him. And I get attracted to what I don’t attain in myself, so we look up to each other. It’s a support system. We complement each other, and we can share a few secrets that will never get out.”

Jr. NTR is the grandson of N. T. Rama Rao Sr. whereas Ram Charan is the son of Telugu superstar Chiranjeevi.

Charan, Rao and Rajamouli are in LA promoting RRR as ‘Naatu Naatu’ has been shortlisted for Best Original Song at Oscars 2023. “What makes us very proud is that a small industry from South India, Tollywood, and one movie called RRR could open the gates to global cinema and bring us here,” explained Rao to LA Times.