Chiranjeevi

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Chiranjeevi
Chiranjeevi welcome01 (cropped).jpg
Union Minister of State (Independent charge), Ministry of Tourism
Incumbent
Assumed office
28 October 2012
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
Preceded by Subodh Kant Sahay
Member of Parliament - Rajya Sabha
Incumbent
Assumed office
2012
Personal details
Born (1955-08-22) 22 August 1955 (age 57)
Mogalthur, West Godavari District, Andhra Pradesh, India
Nationality Indian
Spouse(s) Surekha
Children
Residence Hyderabad
Alma mater
Occupation Film actor, politician
Religion Hindu

Chiranjeevi (born Konidala Siva Sankara Vara Prasad on 22 August 1955)[1] is an Indian film actor, producer, politician and a member of the Indian National Congress. He is the Minister of State with independent charge for Ministry of Tourism, Government of India.[2] Prior to politics, Chiranjeevi has worked primarily in Telugu Cinema including Tamil, Kannada and Hindi films. He made his acting debut in 1978 through the film Punadhirallu.[3] However, Pranam Khareedu released earlier at the box office.[4]

In a film career spanning thirty years, Chiranjeevi was starred in 149 feature films. In 1988, along with his brother Nagendra Babu, he co-produced Rudraveena, which won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration.[5] He has won four state Nandi Awards and ten Filmfare Awards South. Chiranjeevi was honoured with the Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian award, for his contributions towards Indian cinema. In 2006, he was presented an honorary doctorate from Andhra University.[6] In 2013, IBN LIVE named him as one of "The men who changed the face of the Indian Cinema".[7] In 2013, He inaugurated the Incredible India Exhibition, a joint participation of the Ministry of Tourism and Ministry of Information and Broadcasting at the 66th Cannes Film Festival.[8]

Chiranjeevi founded the Chiranjeevi Charitable Foundation, established in 1998, which is involved in humanitarian activities. In 2008, he entered politics by forming the Praja Rajyam Party. In the 2009 Andhra Pradesh elections, Chiranjeevi contested from his native place Palakollu and Tirupati. He was defeated by the Congress party candidate in Palakollu and was elected as a member of the State Assembly from Tirupati constituency. He led the Praja Rajyam Party to emerge as the third largest party during the same election.

Contents

Early life and family [edit]

Chiranjeevi was born in Mogalthur, a small village near Narsapur.[9] He was interested in acting from a very young age. He did his Intermediate in C. S. R. Sharma College at Ongole.[10] After graduating with a degree in commerce from Y. N. College at Narsapur, Chiranjeevi moved to Chennai and joined the Madras Film Institute in 1976 to pursue a career in acting.[11] Since his family worshipped Anjaneya, a Hindu God, his mother advised him to take the screen name of "Chiranjeevi".[12]

He has two daughters, Sushmita and Sreeja, and a son, Ram Charan Teja. Ram is also an actor in Tollywood.[13] One of Chiranjeevi's brothers, Nagendra Babu, is a film producer and also has acted in several films, and his youngest brother, Pawan Kalyan, is an actor in Tollywood.[13] Allu Aravind, his brother-in-law, is a film producer.[14] Allu Arjun, son of Allu Aravind, is also an actor in Telugu cinema.

Acting career [edit]

Early career: 1978–1981 [edit]

Chiranjeevi started filming for Pranam Khareedu.[3] However, his first released film was Punadhirallu.[15] Mana Voori Pandavulu, directed by Bapu gave Chiranjeevi recognition in the Indian audience.[11] He played a small role in Tayaramma Bangarayya. He also played the anti-hero in films like I Love You and K. Balachander's Idi Katha Kaadu,[11] starring Kamal Haasan. In a remake of the Tamil film Avargal, Chiranjeevi portrayed the character played by Rajinikanth in the original. In 1979, Chiranjeevi had eight major film releases and had it went up to 14 films in the following year.[16][17] He played characters with negative shades in films like Mosagadu, Rani Kasula Rangamma and the Tamil-Telugu bilingual 47 Natkal /47 Rojulu directed by K. Balachander.[18] A. Kodandarami Reddy's Nyayam Kavali (1981) saw him playing an anti-hero once again and his performance was noticed by the critics.[citation needed] Also in 1981, he appeared as a villain in Ranuva Veeran opposite Rajinikanth, which further elevated his status as an anti-hero.[citation needed] Audience developed a liking for his "ease in dance movements and swashbuckling fights."[15] He was mostly cast in supporting roles and as antagonistic characters during this period.

1982 [edit]

Chiranjeevi began to appear in lead roles with films such as Intlo Ramayya Veedilo Krishnayya[13] and Abhilasha.[19] For his role in Mondi Ghatam (1982), his unique style of acting was much appreciated by the critics. Intlo Ramayya Veedilo Krishnayya (1982), directed by Kodi Ramakrishna, not only strengthened his position as a big star but also brought him lot of laurels.[12] In 1982, he acted in Subhalekha under the direction of K. Viswanath, for which he received his first Filmfare Award.

1983–2007 [edit]

Khaidi (which was released on 28 October 1983), directed by A. Kodandarami Reddy,written by Paruchuri Brothers, has forever changed Chiranjeevi's fate.Khaidi was a box-office success and Chiranjeevi attained stardom with this movie .[12] Over the next three years, Chiranjeevi gradually occupied the top slot.[citation needed] In the year 1984, Chiranjeevi continued doing action films and in the process redefined Telugu Film Industry as a dynamic movie industry. Remembering the days of 1985 Nagarjuna, another big star of Telugu film industry says "by the time I entered films, he was already a very big star - a man who had mass appeal and a huge fan following..without absolutely anybody's backing, he made it to the top in the telugu film industry becoming the most popular hero - admired by both the masses and the class audience. no artiste today can even dare to dream of reaching the heights chiranjeevi has scaled".[20]

Chiranjeevi continued to enjoy commercial success with Manthri Gari Viyyankudu, Sangharshana, Goonda, Challenge, Hero, Donga, Jwala, Adavi Donga, Kondaveeti Raja, Rakshasudu and Donga Mogudu.[1] In 1985 he received his 2nd Filmfare Best Actor Award (Telugu) for his performance in Vijetha.[21] Chiranjeevi received his first Nandi Award for Best Actor for Swayam Krushi (1987) directed by K. Viswanath. An unusual film for an actor in the early days of his stardom and with the image of an action hero, this film’s box office success proved Chiranjeevi's ability to act in different genres.[22]

Chiranjeevi worked in 23 films, most of which were box office hits. He also attempted a variety of roles which showed his acting skills. After Khaidi, he had hits like Pasivadi Pranam (1987), Yamudiki Mogudu (1988) where he appeared in a dual role, and Manchi Donga (1988). His film, Rudraveena (1988), not only won the National Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration[5] but also made him win his second Nandi Award. Its composer Illayaraja and singer S. P. Balasubrahmanyam won National Film Awards for the same film.

Chiranjeevi paired with Sridevi in Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari a socio-fantasy movie from Tollywood. Directed by K. Raghavendra Rao and produced by Ashwini Dutt. Other films like Kondaveeti Donga and Raja Vikramarka were also box-office successes. Gang Leader (1991) was a also a hit and critics even called him as the "boss of Telugu cinema".[23] Gharana Mogudu became the first ever Telugu movie to gross more than INR 100 million.

He acted in Hindi films too. His performances were appreciated in Prathibandh (1990), which gained him a Filmfare nomination.[citation needed] Aaj Ka Goonda Raj, a remake of his Telugu film and The Gentleman, a Tamil remake also proved to be successful.[citation needed] In year 1996 he appreared in guest role in Kannada Film Sipaayi.[citation needed]

Aapathbandhavudu released in 1992, won critical acclaim and Chiranjeevi received his second Nandi Award for Best Actor and third Filmfare Best Actor Award (Telugu).[24]

The mid 1990s saw a career dip for Chiranjeevi with box-office failures like Mechanic Alludu, S.P.Parshuram, Big Boss and Rikshavodu. There were exceptions such as Muta Mesthri which fetched him fourth Filmfare Best Actor Award (Telugu). Mugguru Monagallu and Alluda Majaka which were moderately successful.[21]

After a brief lull, he came back with Hitler in 1997, which received both critical and commercial acclaim.[citation needed] From then on, Chiranjeevi confined himself to acting in only a few selected films. The following years he appeared in commercially successful movies like Master, Bavagaru Bagunnara, Choodalani Vundi, and Sneham Kosam film he received his fifth Filmfare Award Trophy.[citation needed]

In 1999, Chiranjeevi was to appear in a Hollywood production directed by Dushan Garsi, and produced by Rameshkrishna Murthi. The Telugu version was directed by Suresh Krishna. The movie, which was titled Return of the Thief of Baghdad, had its filming suspended for unknown reasons.[25]

Chiranjeevi's new decade started with Annayya, After a brief gap, Chiranjeevi starred in Indra released in 2002 which broke all his previous box office records of Tollywood and won him his third Nandi Award for Best Actor and sixth Filmfare Best Actor Award (Telugu).After that, he appeared in films which had an underlying message and a social cause like Tagore, Shankar Dada MBBS for which he won his seventh and latest Filmfare Best Actor Award (Telugu) and Stalin.He was awarded for the Legendary Honorary Filmfare Award for his contributions to the film industry for eighth time receiving his trophy.

Political career: 2008–present [edit]

In 2008, Chiranjeevi started Praja Rajyam, a political party in the state of Andhra Pradesh.[26] At the launch, he stated that social justice was the main agenda of his party.[27] In the 2009 general elections the party won 18 seats in the Andhra Pradesh State Assembly.[28] He was elected a Member of the State Assembly from Tirupati.[29] While Chiranjeevi was expected to win the elections and form the government, he could only win 18 seats. Every party has a media channel and enough party funds. Lack of a media channel and the baseless rumours created by the other party's unofficial channels impacted his chances of winning more seats. At Praja Rajyam's launch, party assembly seat nominations were distributed to 104 back ward caste candidates and a lot of seats to SC and ST candidates out of a total 294 available for the legislative assembly seats (lower house) .[clarification needed]. Praja Rajyam's won 18 seats with a cumulative 18% vote share.[citation needed]

His party was the only one to give more than 100 seats to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes members. In the history of Indian politics after Independence, all the political parties restricted the candidacy of these people to the reserved seats. Chiranjeevi's party had some of them compete for the general seats, which is something no other political party had done.[citation needed]

He stood both in Tirupati and in Palakollu Constituency as MLA in the 2009 general elections, winning in Tirupati but losing in Palakollu.[30][31]

On 6 February 2011, Chiranjeevi merged the 30-month-old Praja Rajyam party with Indian National Congress[28][32] after two weeks of back talks with Sonia Gandhi, the president of the Congress, which feared the no confidence motion in the state assembly in the wake of the emergence of Jagan Mohan Reddy's YSR Congress and the stronghold of Telangana agitation. After more than one year of merging his party into Congress, he was given the Rajya Sabha seat on 29 March 2012. He took oath as Rajya Sabha member on 3 April 2012.

On 28 October 2012 he was sworn in as the Union Minister of State (Independent charge), Ministry of Tourism, Government of India.[2]

Humanitarian work [edit]

On 2 October 1998, he founded the Chiranjeevi Charitable Trust (CCT), which includes Chiranjeevi Blood and Eye Banks. It is the state's largest recipient of blood and eye donations. The trust has made over 68,000 blood donations through and 1,414 eye donations.[3][33][34] The Blood Bank of the CCT helped over 80,000 people and the Eye Bank has helped about 1000 people in the state of Andhra Pradesh since its opening. Around 350,000 people have pledged their eyes to CCT so far, giving 1600 people eyesight through CCT. CCT has also won the "Best Voluntary Blood Bank Award" by the AP State Government for the past 4 years.[35][36] On 10 June 2006, the then President of India, Abdul Kalam, inaugurated the Chiranjeevi Charitable Foundation (CCF) at the Jubilee Hills Check post in Hyderabad.[citation needed]

Chiranjeevi Charitable Trust has crossed the one lakh mark in collecting blood and more than 96,000 people have been helped with blood by this blood bank.[37]

After allegations made against the Blood Bank and Eye Bank,[38][39] the state government of AP constituted a high-level committee to look into the allegations. The committee worked under the guidance of the project director of AP State AIDA Control Society, comprising experts from finance and technical fields, verified records pertaining to the collection and disposal of blood samples, blood grouping, screening, sterilisation, medical waste disposal, camps conducted, blood expiry, quality control, store room, record room and purchase of equipment.[citation needed]

Awards, honours and recognitions [edit]

Veteran director K. Balachander once commented "Chiranjeevi has both Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth in him. Not only can he do action, he can also act."[40] Owing to his ability to his box-office appeal, popular entertainment magazine, Filmfare, quoted him "Bigger than Bachchan", a reference to Bollywood’s Amitabh Bachchan.[41] News magazine The Week hailed him as "The new money machine".[42] Gharana Mogudu, the blockbuster movie was the first Telugu film to gross over 100 million rupees at the box office. The film made Chiranjeevi the highest paid actor in India, catapulting him to hit the cover pages of all national weekly magazines and India Today had a caption, "Bigger Than Bachchan".[43]

Chiranjeevi received the Padmabhushan, the third highest civilian honour in India in the year 2006. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Andhra University in the same year.[5] He is an eight-time winner of Filmfare Award for Best Actor[3][5] and a four time winner of Nandi Awards.

Awards [edit]

Filmfare Awards South
Nandi Awards

Notable filmography [edit]

Main article: Chiranjeevi filmography
Year Film Role Notes
1978 Punadhirallu Vijay Debut film
1979 Idi Katha Kaadu Subanakar
1980 Punnami Naagu Naagulu Filmfare Special Award - South
1980 Nakili Manishi Prasad,
Shyam		 First dual role
1981 47 Natkal Kumar Tamil film
1982 Intlo Ramayya Veedilo Krishnayya Rajasekharam
1982 Subhalekha Narasimha Murthi Filmfare Award for Best Telugu Actor
1983 Khaidi Sooryam
1985 Vijetha Chinnababu Filmfare Award for Best Telugu Actor
1986 Chantabbai Chanti
1987 Swayam Krushi Sambaiah Nandi Award for Best Actor
1987 Aradhana Puli Raju
1988 Rudraveena Suryanarayana Sastry Nandi Special Jury Award
1990 Kondaveeti Donga kodanadaramireddy
1990 Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari Raju
1990 Prathibandh Siddhanth Hindi film
Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Actor
1991 Gang Leader Raja
1992 Gharana Mogudu Raju
1992 Aapathbandavudu Madhava Nandi Award for Best Actor
Filmfare Award for Best Telugu Actor
1993 Muta Mesthri Subhash Chandra Bose Filmfare Award for Best Telugu Actor
2002 Indra Indrasena Reddy,
Shankar Narayana		 Nandi Award for Best Actor
Filmfare Award for Best Telugu Actor
2003 Tagore Tagore
2004 Shankar Dada MBBS Shankar Prasad Filmfare Award for Best Telugu Actor
2006 Stalin Stalin
2008 Shankar Dada Zindabad Shankar Prasad

References [edit]

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  8. ^ Chiranjeevi to inaugurate Incredible India exhibition at Cannes - Times Of India
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  48. ^ ""Autograph" bags 3 Filmfare awards". The Hindu (Chennai, India). 10 July 2005. 
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  50. ^ The glitter, the gloss, the razzmatazz

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