Nandamuri Balakrishna has made it more than clear that 'NTR' is not being made with a political motive.  It will hit the screens ahead of the 2019 elections in January (for Sankranthi, to be precise).  

The film is destined to clash with 'Yatra', the biopic of YS Rajasekhar Reddy.  Directed by Mahi V Raghav, the film has Mammootty playing YSR.  The film, as things stand, will hit the screens the coming Sankranthi.  While YSR and NTR were not direct political rivals in a big way, their political legatees are.  YS Jagan and Chandrababu Naidu will be competing for the CM kurchi, the latter to retain it, in the 2019 elections.  

Whatever may be the intentions of Balakrishna in taking up this biopic on a war footing (he didn't even wait for a Krish to arrive), politics could well be seen around this massive film.  It's because of the timing of the release (election season).  And it's also because of its clash with 'Yatra'.

In the game of perception, 'NTR' has already become a political film, never mind what Balayya has to say.  People see motivations, machinations and everything in between even where there are none.  Regardless of the passion and honesty with which the makers are designing their respective biopics ('NTR' and 'Yatra') with pure artistic intentions, people are ready to pit TDP's 'NTR' against YSRCP's 'Yatra'.