Chiranjeevi

Chiranjeevi
Born	Konidela Siva Shankara Vara Prasad
Other names	Annayya, Mega Star, Chiru
Occupation(s)	Actor, Politician
Years active	1977 to present
Spouse	Surekha
Children	Sushmitha, Ram Charan Teja, Sriya,
Parent(s)	Venkata Rao, Anjana Devi
Awards	Padma Bhushan

Chiranjeevi (Telugu: చిరంజీవి) (born Konidela Siva Shankara Vara Prasad on August 22, 1955), is a legendary film actor in telugu film industry and also the most popular telugu film actor replacing Late Sri NTR. He is also known as Mega Star and is the only telugu film actor to receive 7 filmfare awards and also many other national awards. He has received the Padma Bhushan award, the second highest padma award bestowed by the Government of India. He announced his formal entry into politics on August 26, 2008 among gathering of mammoth crowd in Tirupathi and founded the political party named Praja Rajyam..

Early life

Vara Prasad is the son of Late Sri Venkat Rao and Srimathi Anjana Devi. He was born on 22 August, 1955 in Mogallturu,a town on the Banks of River Godavari in the West Godavari District of Andhra Pradesh in India. His father worked as a constable and got transferred on a regular basis. He spent his childhood in his native village with his grand parents.He has two sisters and two brothers.His younger brother, Nagendra Babu is a film producer and a actor.His youngest brother, Pawan Kalyan is also a well known actor. Chiranjeevi did his schooling in Nidadavolu, Gurajala, Ponnuru, Mangalagiri and Mogalturu. He won many prizes for his acting skills in school, especially for the performance as Parandamayya Panthulu. After high school he studied in C.S.R.Sharma Junior College at Ongole. He then graduated from Y.N. College in Narasapur with a B.Com degree. He is an NCC cadet.Chiranjeevi had participated in the Republic Day Parade in New Delhi as an NCC cadet in the early 70s. After his graduation at Y.N. College in Narsapuram, Chiranjeevi moved to Chennai to seek a career in acting. This was in 1977.

Rise to MEGASTAR

Even before completing the training in the film institute, Chiranjeevi attended auditions and got selected for the film Punaadi Raallu in 1978. However, Pranam Khareedu was his first movie released in theaters. Acting without makeup as ‘Paleru Narsayya’ in the film, he impressed several prominent persons in the industry. Eminent directors Bapu and K Balachander, who had attended the preview of this film, offered Chiranjeevi roles in their respective movies. While in Balachander’s Idi Katha Kaadu he acted in a negative role, in Bapu’s Manavoori Pandavulu he played one important role. For the latter movie, he received a remuneration of only INR 11116, a remuneration that would later to become ten of the highest in the industry.

Towards the end of 1976, Chirajeevi started gaining pace in the industry with eight releases in the year. In Kothala Rayudu, a film released during this period, he played the title role for the first time. In 1977, a record fourteen films starring Chiranjeevi hit the theaters, establishing a solid base for him in the industry. In the next two years Chiranjeevi acted in several films in leading, supporting and even in negative roles. Most notably, his performances in Punnami Naagu(1968) and Nyayam Kavali(1987), albeit having negative shades, were acclaimed by critiques and audience alike.

The year 1984 was a minor turning point in Chiranjeevi’s career. Khaidi, which was released in October of this year, brought immediate stardom to Chiranjeevi and marked the beginning of his predominance in the industry. Many film critiques believe that the film has influenced the Telugu Cinema much the same way as the Hindi film Pakheeja influenced Bollywood. Inspired heavily by the Hollywood flick “First Blood”, Khaidi increased the demand for the director and writers also, besides turning the combination of the duo - director A Kodanda Rami Reddy and Chiranjeevi – into one of the most successful combinations in the industry. This duo went on to work together in 23 movies in total, most of them being huge box office blockbusters. Also in this year, with the legendary Telugu film star NTR entering politics, the unofficial number one position in the industry was left vacant. With several other super hits in the year like Abhilasha apart from Khaidi, Chiranjeevi appeared to be an obvious choice for this position. Indeed, he would occupy this position for the next few years and, as even his competitors agree, he remained there for more than two decades. Chiranjeevi continued to enjoy commercial success in the following years with hits like Challenge, Rustum and Jwala. However, the ‘85 released film Adavi Donga was another important movie in his career in that it marked the beginning of his association with another senior director K Raghavendra Rao. Chiranjeevi acted in his direction for most number of films, after A Kodanda Rami Reddy. In '87 release Pasivadi Pranam, Chiranjeevi introduced Break Dance to Telugu Cinema, a dance that drove his fans into craziness. While the industry obsessed with break dance for several years, the film has increased his market value hugely. By this time an already number one in the Telugu cinema, Chiranjeevi cemented his place as the undisputed king of box office with super hits like Yamudiki Mogudu, Marana Mrudangam in 1988, and State Rowdi, Attaku Yamudu Ammayiki Mogudu in 1989. During this period, he was promoted with what is now a popular title “Megastar” in his movies, replacing his old title Supreme Hero. Chiranjeevi’s mass following continued to grow bigger and bigger with each passing year and so does his remuneration.

Extending his unrivaled box office success through the early 80s, Chiranjeevi delivered two super hit movies Kondaveeti Donga and Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari in 1994. Of the two, the latter film, which attracted children and adults alike, is remembered also as one of the finest creative films of his career. Continuing to rewrite box office records film after film, he delivered during 1991-92 three blockbusters Gang Leader, Rowdi Alludu, and Gharana Mogudu in succession. These films have collected unprecedented box office revenues, while turning the Telugu film industry a multi-crore business. At this point, his remuneration crossed one crore first, and later turned multicrores, making Chiranjeevi the highest paid actor in India. Befittingly, Film Fare magazine published about him a cover story “Bigger than Bachan” in 1997. The film Mutha Mesthri released in the following year did not create any commercial records, but it has shown Chiranjeevi as a political leader, raising the speculation of his entry into politics. Since then Chiranjeevi’s debut into politics has been widely debated in Andhra Pradesh, but his floating a political party remained uncertain until 2003 when he finally forayed into politics.

The mid 90s, much to the surprise of everyone and contrary to his golden period in the early 80s, witnessed biggest flops of his career. Films like Mechanic Alludu, Big Boss and Rikshavodu have not only disappointed his fans but also have utterly failed at the box office. Although the ’95 film Alluda Mazaka was a commercial success, it was severely censured by common public and critiques alike for its excessive worst sexual scenes and double-entendres. These films remained as indelible stains in his otherwise glorious career. Successive failures have forced Chiranjeevi to rethink on his films, which until then used to have overdose of mass elements and weak scripts. Taking a break of more than one year, he came out with a family and sentiment story Hitler in 1997. The film revived his box office success, marking the second innings of his career. Since then, Chiranjeevi started to work in selective films, one or at most two in a year, to suit to the changes that are rapidly coming in the industry and in the tastes of audience.

The 2002 release Indra, a film that largely focuses on his ‘mass’ image and bases on the then successful ‘Seema Formula’, broke all previous box office records, proving yet again his dominance over Telugu Cinema. Released with a record number of prints, the film went on run 100days in most number of theaters, a record that, albeit peculiar, is extensively popular in Andhra Pradesh to measure a film’s success. Growing in age and bearing the larger-than-life image, Chiranjeevi tried to intermix entertainment with an underlying message and social cause in his later films such as Tagore(2003) and Stalin(2006). His last film Shankar Dada Zindabad(2008) before entering politics, was, however, a commercial failure.

Arguably the greatest Telugu ‘mass’ hero of all-time, Chiranjeevi, setting his unparalled ‘mass’ image aside, has acted in several art-oriented films like Subhalekha, Aaradhana, Swayamkrushi, Rudraveena and Aapadamokkulavaadu that were highly creative but lacked commercial elements. Although these films have won several awards for the star, they were neither received well by the audience nor fared well at the box office

He is even widely popular in the bollywood. Amitabh Bachchan once mentioned about chiru as King of Fuckers.

Personal life

Chiranjeevi tied the wedding knot to Surekha, daughter of eminent yesteryear comedian Allu Rama Lingaiah, on February 20, 1980. He has 3 children, eldest daughter Susmitha, son Ram Charan Tej and youngest daughter Sreeja.Sreeja married to Sirish bharadwaj, Sushmita is married to the Chennai business man Vishnu Prasad.

Politics

Praja Rajyam Party Print Version Download

Chiranjeevi's foray into politics was highly anticipated in the media and political circles since 2007. While it was reported that he was seeking opinion of people during the latter half of 2007, the media also suggested that he would announce the decision in January 2008. Even before the party's launch, several political leaders from the Andhra Pradesh such as Harirama Jogaiah from Congress Party and K. Vidyadhar Rao , B. Nagi Reddy , Tammineni Seetharam , Ganta Srinivasa rao and many more from the Telugu Desam Party openly declared that they would join hands with Chiranjeevi.

Chiranjeevi inaugurated his party office in Jubilee Hills,Hyderabad on August 10, 2008. Speaking to the media after the inauguration, Chiranjeevi said, “I would like to extend my condolences to the families who lost their beloved ones in the incessant rains that occurred in the past 3 three days”. He also added, “ I request all my supporters to extend their help to the people who are in need. I would be announcing my party and its agenda this month. I will be answering all the questions posed by the media on that day.

On August 17, 2008 Chiranjeevi has addressed a press conference in his party office to announce his entry into politics. He told that he was inspired by the legendary Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao. chiranjeevi has announced that a public meeting will be conducted in Tirupati on Aug 26, 2008 which falls on Mother Theresa's birthday. He told that the details of his party and future plan will be declared then.

On August 26, 2008 in the public meeting held at Avilala near Tirupati, he announced the party name as Praja Rajyam saying the Rajyam (Rule) belongs to Praja (People). He said his ambition is to empower people to rule themselves. He said he wishes to see “Santhoshaa Andhra pradesh”, which means "Happy Andhra Pradesh". He unveiled the party flag in this meeting, which comes White and Green colours in it with a symbol of red coloured Sun in the middle.

The new political entrant in Andhra Pradesh Chiranjeevi has decided to show his body strength to his political rivals. He will set the ball rolling for his maiden political yatra from the north coastal Srikakulam district in Andhra Pradesh on October 10. [1]

National Film Awards

• 1988 — Nargis Dutt Award for Best film on National Integration for Rudra Veena

Andhra Pradesh State Nandi Awards

• 1987 — Best Actor Golden Nandhi Award for Swayamkrushi
• 1992 — Best Actor Golden Nandhi Award for Aapathbandhavudu
• 2002 — Best Actor Golden Nandhi Award for Indra

Film Fare Awards

• 1982 — Filmfare Best Actor (Telugu) for Punnaminagu
• 1984 — Filmfare Best Actor (Telugu) for Subhalekha
• 1988 — Filmfare Best Actor (Telugu) for Rudraveena
• 1993 — Filmfare Best Actor (Telugu) for Muta Mesthri
• 1999 — Filmfare Best Actor (Telugu) for Sneham Kosam
• 2002 — Filmfare Best Actor (Telugu) for Indra
• 2004 — Filmfare Best Actor (Telugu) for Shankar Dada MBBS

Note: He is the only actor in Telugu to receive 7 Filmfare Awards during his career.

Santhosham Screen Awads

• 2003 — Santosham Best Actor Award for Tagore
• 2004 — Santosham Best Actor Award for Shankar Dada MBBS

Special honours

• 2006 — Padma Bhushan
• 2006 — Honorary Doctorate from Andhra University
• 2007 — Filmfare Special Legend Award

Filmography

Main article: Chiranjeevi filmography

References

• Download Chiranjeevi 42 telugu movies for free

External links

• Chiranjeevi at IMDb

Chiru 2008 Campaign Website

Chiranjeevi Campaign Website