Chiranjeevi (
చిరంజీవి) (birth name is
Konidela Shiva Shankara Vara Prasad on
August 22, 1955), is a popular
Tollywood film personality, also called "Megastar". He was awarded the
Padma Bhushan award, the second highest Padma award bestowed by the
Government of India. He is the only
Tollywood actor to receive seven
Filmfare Best Actor awards. He announced his formal entry into politics on in august 2008 by launching the Praja Rajyam Party at tirupathi in presence of a big gathering from every corner ofthe state and participated in 2009 elections. He is a member of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly representing
Tirupathi.
Personal Life
Chiranjeevi married Surekha, the daughter of veteran actor and comedian Sri Allu Ramalingaiah. He has two daughters Sushmitha and Sreeja and a son Ram Charan Teja. Chiranjeevi's two younger brothers Nagendra Babu and Pawan Kalyan are also well settled actors in the South Indian film industry.
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 actor. Chiranjeevi did his schooling in Nidadavolu, Gurajala, Bapatla, Ponnuru, Mangalagiri and Mogalturu. 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 was an NCC cadet.Chiranjeevi had participated in the Republic Day Parade in New Delhi as an NCC cadet in the early 70s. In 1977, after his graduation at Y.N. College in Narsapuram, Chiranjeevi moved to Chennai to seek a career in acting.
Acting career
Chiranjeevi was a student at the Madras Film Institute and an amateur stage actor.Before completing his training at the film institute,he attended auditions and selected for the film Punaadi Raallu(1978).However, Pranam Khareedu was his first film released in theaters. His first public performance was in the Republic Day parade ballet of Andhra Pradesh on 26 January, 1976.In the film Paleru Narsayya,he acted without makeup and impressed the prominent members of the industry.Famous directors Bapu and K Balachandar,who had attended the preview of this film ,offered the roles in their respective movies.In Balachander’s Idi Katha Kaadu he acted in a negative role,but in Bapu’s Manavoori Pandavulu he played one important role.For this movie he received a remuneration of Rs.1116.Towards the end of 1979, 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 1980, 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(1980) and Nyayam Kavali(1981), albeit having negative shades, were acclaimed by critiques and audience alike. The year 1983 was a major 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 dominance in the industry. Many film critiques believe that the film has influenced the Telugu Cinema much the same way as the Hindi film Sholay 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 films 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 is left vacant.
Actor to 'Megastar'
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 within the next few years and, as even his competitors agree, he remained there for more than two decades. (Leading Telugu Actor Venkatesh said in an Interview to India Today that Chiranjeevi has been the undisputed No. 1 since 1987)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 did his remuneration.
Bigger than Bachchan - 1992
Extending his unrivaled box office success through the early 90s, Chiranjeevi delivered two super hit movies Kondaveeti Donga and Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari in 1990. Of the two, the latter film, which attracted both children and adults, 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 Bachchan” in 1992. 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 entry into politics has been widely debated in Andhra Pradesh, but his floating a political party remained uncertain until 2008 when he finally forayed into politics. The mid 90s, much to the surprise of everyone and contrary to his golden period in the early 90s, 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 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.
Return to success: 2002
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 a social cause in his later films such as Tagore(2003) and Stalin(2005).
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 Apadbhandavudu, 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.
Philanthropy
Besides acting, he is widely known for his charity services.On October 2 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 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.So far around 3.5 lakh people have pledged their eyes to CCT, giving 1600 people eye sight through CCT. CCT has also won the "Best Voluntary Blood Bank Award" by the AP State Government for the past 4 years.
On June 10, 2006, The President of India, Dr. Abdul Kalam, inaugurated the Chiranjeevi Charitable Foundation (CCF) at the Jubilee Hills Check post in Hyderabad.
Recently CCT has reached one more landmark by crossing the one lakh mark in collecting the blood and more than 96,000 people were helped with blood by this blood bank.
Political Campaign
Chiranjeevi has helped improve the economy of the state. He campaigned saying "Companies need CEOs who seek profit for their share holders and debt holders, but Andhra needs a social comedian for its electorate", "Corruption needs to be rooted out", "I am not interested in laptops or pictures with Bill Clinton and Bill Gates".
His Praja Rajyam Party won 18 seats out of 294 and approximately 18% votes (70 lakh votes). Chiranjeevi himself successfully contested from Tirupathi but lost in Palakollu
References
