Chiru

Chiranjeevi's contribution to Telugu cinema would mainly be remembered for his swashbuckling portrayal of the leading man. Combined with his intense portrayals of regular day-to-day man's characters witnessed in such classic films like Subhalekha, Challenge, Intlo Ramaiah Veedhilo Krishnaiah , what chiru ( as he is fondly called by his millions of fans ) brought to the then staid arts of film dancing and film stunts was something revolutionary. Here was a hero who could perform intricate dance movements with a grace not seen before on the Indian screen. The first significant milestone happened with the pathbreaking movie Khaidi. That film made him a big star and earned him fans ranging from the sixes to the sixties. Following that achievement, he went on to cement his position in the tinsel world acting in many commercial potboiliers, movies that would showcase not just his dancing and daredevilry but his versatility in acting. This was also the time he became the numero uno of Telugu cinema. Along side this meteoric rise to superstardom, Chiranjeevi dabbled in a kind of artistic cinema that has since been absent from his portfolio. Movies like Rudraveena, Swayamkrushi, Apathbandhavudu - stand out as a testimony to his acting skills. And then the big blockbuster Gharana mogudu happened. This movie firmly established Chiranjeevi's position as one of the superstars of the country alongside such greats as Amitabh Bachchan. India Today, a leading national weekly conferred this envious position by declaring him Bigger than Bachan - a sobriquet more as a hats off to the 1+ crore (10 million Indian rupees or 200,000 USD approximately) remuneration that Chiranjeevi received for that movie - more than any other actor in the country. Apart from the unique definition he bestowed on a leading man, he expanded the range of Telugu film box office like none before him. After reaching those dizzying heights, calls for Chiranjeevi's entry into politics reached a crescendo. South Indian politics has been intricately linked to filmdom and Chiranjeevi was expected to follow in the footsteps of legends like M. G. Ramachandran and N.T. Rama Rao. That Chiranjeevi was barely 40 and that the state was probably not close to taking another star turned politician pushed him into an uncertainty that also cast a spell on his movies. He had a dip in his stardom through most of the mid 90s even having to take a break for sometime. But his come back movies were hits and he steadily built his base back into being one of the biggest stars of Telugu cinema. The highly successful movies, Indra (2002) and Tagore (2003), put a stop to his critics and ranked him as among the top stars of all time.Chiranjeevi has been always associated with super stardom and can be remmembered as the greatest actor in the telugu filmdom as a matter of act in the whole of the south indian film industry by ruling an era that spanned over 25 years and redefining the parameters of telugu cinema. Chiranjeevi has made an indelible mark on the minds of millions of filmgoers. He is supposed to have the largest fanbase and the highest number of fan clubs ever in the history of this country, second only to the legendary Amitabh Bachchan