Chiranjeevi
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Chiranjeevi (చి్రంజీవి) (born August 22, 1955) is a popular actor in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Though his major interest remains Telugu cinema (also called Tollywood), he has grown in popularity and is now well-known all over India. He holds many records in Telugu cinema and is popularly nicknamed Megastar Chiru.
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Early Years
Konidela Siva Sankara Vara Prasad better known as Chiranjeevi (his screen name) was born in Mogaltur, West Godavari district to Venkat Rao and Anjana Devi and is the eldest. After graduating with a B.Com degree, he joined an acting school in Madras. He then started off by acting in small roles in movies.
Family
Chiranjeevi has two brothers and two sisters, Nagendra babu (film producer) and Pawan Kalyan (actor), Vijaya Durga and Madhavi. He is married to Surekha, daughter of veteran Tollywood actor Allu Ramalingaiah. He has two daughters and one son, Susmitha, Srija and Ramcharan Tej. His daughter's engagement with a rising new tollywood hero uday kiran ended as surprisingly as it had begun. Exact reasons are unknown.
Career
Though his first move was Punaadi Raallu, the first movie released was Pranam Khareedu released in 1978. After some cameos and negative roles in his earlier movies, he was catapulted to stardom with a smash hit Khaidi. He has seen many ups and downs in his career spanning 25 years and to this day, has acted in over 138 films. At one point of time in the mid of his acting career, he was forced to go into hibernation because of a string of flops. He bounced back with Hitler a Malayalam movie remake. At the peak of his career, he was rumoured to be the highest paid actor in India. He also acted in 3 Hindi movies (popularly called Bollywood) and a kannada movie. He holds many film records in Telugu cinema and is currently the most influential star in Tollywood. Allu Aravind, his brother-in-law, produced many successful films with him.
Though critics say, he chruned out only mass oriented films (movies with songs, dance sequences, double entendre and fights), there are some instances where he tried out his hand at message oriented films, notably Swayam krushi (self perseverence) and Rudra veena with less commercial success. Chiranjeevi produced the movie 'Rudra veena' under his banner Anjana Productions with K. Balachandar, a popular Tamil director. Even though it received a few national awards (notably National Integration Award), he was not adjudged as 'Best actor' which many feel, his best performance to date.
He is well known for his comic timing and acting skills. He has a wide fan base in south India, similar to that of Rajinikanth. Chiranjeevi fans are traditionally well-known for their temperamental behaviour ensuing the success or failure of his films. They are also popular for religiously defending his performance merits while virulently criticizing other artistes and respective fan groups. On the brighter they proactively participate in blood and eye donations, anti-piracy drive and other social welfare activities under the name of their hero.
Awards and Recognitions
He has won several awards including 2 Nandi Awards (Awards given by Government of Andhra Pradesh yearly once) for movies Swayankrushi(1987) and Apatbandhavudu (1992). He has won over 10 Filmfare Awards (popular awards given by the Magazine Filmfare).
Charity
Apart from being a successful actor, he also has another face, that of a social servant. In1998, he started Chiranjeevi Charitable Trust [1] (http://www.chiranjeevitrust.org) to serve the less fortunate. Many critics pointed out that he planned these trusts to fulfill his political ambitions. But later it was proved to be wrong. He clearly said that he was not interested in joining politics.
Filmography
- Punaadi Raallu
- Punnami Naagu
- Praanam Kharidu
- Pasivaadi Pranam
- Mana voori pandavulu
- Veta
- Rani Kasula Rangamma
- Kothapeta Rowdy
- Mosagadu
- Challenge
- Chantabbai
- Chiranjeevi
- Sangharshana
- Donga
- Khaidi
- Aradhana
- Abhilasha
- Vijeta
- Maga Maha Raju
- Maga Dheerudu
- Marana Mrudangam
- Muta Mestri
- S.P Parasuram
- Manchi Donga
- Kondaveeti Donga
- Jebu donga
- Kondaveeti Raja
- Kodama Simham
- Goonda
- Yamudiki Mogudu
- Atthaku Yamudu Ammayiki Mogudu
- Prathibandh (Hindi)
- Aaj ka Goondaraj (Hindi)
- The Gentleman (Hindi)
- Rudraveena
- Jagadeka Veerudu Atiloka Sundari
- Gang Leader
- Rowdy Alludu
- Gharana Mogudu
- Mugguru Monagaallu
- Big Boss
- Rickshawvodu
- Hitler
- Master
- Baavagaaru Baagunnnara
- Choodalani Undi
- Sneham Kosam
- Iddaru Mitrulu
- Annayya
- Mrugaraju
- Shri Manjunatha
- Daddy
- Indra
- Tagore
- Anji
- Shankar Dada MBBS
- Andarivaadu
- Jai Chiranjeeva
External Links
- Template:Imdb name
- Fan Site of Chiranjeevi and Pawan Kalyan (http://www.megafans.com)
- Fan Site with good amount of info (http://megastarchiranjeevi.tk/)
- Chiranjeevi Profile and Movies (http://www.tollywood.info/actor/c/chiranjeevi.htm)
- Chiranjeevi Charitable Trust Official website (http://www.chiranjeevitrust.org)