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Chiranjeevi (Telugu: చిరంజీవి), born as Konidela Siva Shankara Vara Prasad on August 22, 1955, also known as Mega Star is a three-time Nandi Award-winning actor in the Telugu cinema industry. He is also a recipient of the Padma Bhushan Award. He is one of the highest paid actor in india.

Early life

Vara Prasad is the eldest son of Late Sri Venkat Rao and Smt Anjana Devi. He was born on 22 August, 1955 in Narsapur, a Town on the Banks of River Godavari in the West Godavari District in Andhra Pradesh. He spent his childhood in his native village with his grand parents, while his family was else where because of his father's occupation. He has two sisters and two brothers; his younger brother, Nagendra Babu is a film producer and a film actor, his youngest brother, Pawan Kalyan is also a Telugu film actor.

Varaprasad 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 joined Bi.P.C in P.R.Sharma Jr. College at Ongole. Following that he finished his B.Com from Y.N. College in Narasapur.

After his graduation at Y.N. College in Narsapuram, Chiranjeevi moved to Chennai to seek a career in acting. This was in 1977.

Career

Chiranjeevi was called by different names at different stages in his life. At high school level, he was called KSSV Prasad. During his college days, he was called Prasad. At home, he was called ‘Sankara Babu’.

Varaprasad felt that his name ‘Sankar’ would not be appealing to the people. He had a dream one night in which lord hanuman called him as Chiranjeevi. Then he narrated the same incident to his mother and she advised him to change his screen name to Chiranjeevi. He is also a great devotee of Lord Hanuman and hence he changed his name to Chiranjeevi which in Hindu mythology refers to Lord Hanuman.

Early career

After completing his Diploma in Acting in Chennai, Chiranjeevi got an offer to act in ‘Punadi Rallu’in 1978, But the movie got delayed. Producer-director T Kranti Kumar, who had seen his photograph gave him a role in the film, ‘Pranam Khareedu’ which was his first release.. Subsequently, director Bapu signed him for ‘Manavoori Pandavulu’, where he first gained some recognition. In the beginning of his career, Chiranjeevi donned villain roles in films like Kukka Kaatuki Cheppu Debba, Kotthapeta Rowdi etc. He was known for his speedy dance movements and risky hair raising fights. His success started after his quite acclaimed role in 'Initilo Ramayya Vidhilo Krishnayya' (1981). Between 1978 and 1983 October (till the release of Khaidi) he had acted in about 60 movies, mostly in secondary roles, some as second hero, some as villain and some as character roles.

Khaidi, directed by A Kodandarami Reddy and produced by Thirupathi Reddy of Samyuktha movies, was the first film to catapult Chiranjeevi into the big league. The movie was heavily inspired by Hollywood blockbuster First Blood. He sizzled across a two and a half hour drama which in the end changed the very face of heroism in the Telugu motion picture industry. This film marked the beginning of his long and successful collaboration with director Kodanda Rami Reddy. Even today,Chiranjeevi singles out this film in his entire career that, according to him, satisfied him in everyway.
The film Pasivadi Pranam, released in 1987, gave Chiranjeevi super stardom. He introduced "break dance", a new style of dance form to the telugu film audiences. In the same year he acted in SwayamKrushi in the direction of K. Viswanath and won Nandi Award for his performance.. Even though over eager critics were keen to typecast him as a song and dance hero, his films were sufficiently ambiguous to defy easy ideological categorization.
Chiranjeevi, has stated, "I play characters of ordinary men in extraordinary circumstances. I like characters who have a perspective for right and wrong." He has also noted "my movies are entertainment oriented, not moral or political." From then onwards chiranjeevi was called "Supreme Hero" by his fans.
This was a glorius period in his career with movies like Adavi Donga, Donga Mogudu, Yamudiki Mogudu, Aaradhana, Rudraveena, Challenge, Vijetha, and Kondaveeti Donga all of which went on to become blockbusters in the telugu film industry.

Further progress

The title "Megastar" was used for the first time while publicizing K. S. Rama Rao’s movie Marana Mrudangam which released in August 1988. In the same year was released Rudraveena directed by K.Balachander, which bagged the "Nargis Dutt" award for Chiranjeevi in the national arena. The title was just a publicity gimmick and did not catch on with his fans at that time. But the title was used consistently from then onwards.

The first half of 90’s decade peaked Chiranjeevi’s career graph to soaring heights for every movie released rewrote the box-office history. Gang Leader, Rowdi Alludu, Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari and Gharana Mogudu are only a few to be cited. After the success of so many movies his fans lapped up the title of Megastar which is used even to this day.

Due to the phenomenal success of his movies in the early 90's, expectations about his movies box-office runs were very high. Coupled with the high expectation were some poor movie selection by chiranjeevi which led to very bad movies like Mechanic Alludu, SP Parasuram, Big Boss and Rickshavodu which proved to be commercially disastrous. The controversy raked by Alluda Majaka for some double entendre and few erotic scenes affected Chiranjeevi’s image among his fans. Chiranjeevi threw a self-declared 'gap' after Rickshavodu to have a self-scanning of his conscience and thus emerged out with more mature and versatile portrayal in the film Hitler that ended his lean patch.

Indra released in 2002 in more than 200 screen in Andhra Pradesh. The movie opened to packed theatres and went on to become one of the biggest hits of chiranjeevi's career. It truly reinvented the star in him and rejuvenated all his fan clubs all over the state. He also won the Nandi Award for best actor that year for the film.He is the number one of telugu cinema for more than 25 years. He is unpredictable star of telugu cinema.

Personal life

Chiranjeevi tied the wedding knot to Surekha, daughter of eminent yesteryear comedian Allu Rama Lingaiah, on February 20, 1980. They have two daughters, Susmitha and Srija and a son, Ram Charan Teja."Marriage".</ref>

Awards & Honours

In January 2006, Chiranjeevi received the Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian award in India because of his contributions to the Telugu Film Industry and for his social work.

In November 2006, Chiranjeevi also received honorary doctorate by the Andhra University for his services to the Telugu film industry and for his social work.

Filmography

References

1. http://www.idlebrain.com/celeb/starhomes/chiranjeevi/index.html
2. "Early life".
3. "Education".
4. "Changing screen name".
5. "Early career".
6. "Khaidi on IMDB".
7. "Chiranjeevi on Khaidi".
8. "Chiranjeevi Dances".
9. "Chiranjeevi on Khaidi".
10. "Megastar".
11. "Commercial Disasters".
12. "Alluda Majakaa".
13. "andhravilas.com". Chiranjeevi receives Padma Bhushan. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessdaymonth= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
14. "AU confers honorary degrees on Chiru, others". The Hindu. 2006-11-07. Retrieved 2008-01-16. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); External link in |work= (help)

External links

• Chiranjeevi at IMDb
• Chiranjeevi Charitable Foundation

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