HBD Chiranjeevi: Lesser Known Facts Of Tollywood’s Megastar
His birthday CDP…
Chiranjeevi is born on 22nd August, 1955 in Mogalthur, a village in the West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh. His father Konidela Venkat Rao worked as a constable and his mother Anjana Devi is a housewife!
Chiranjeevi’s real name is Konidela Siva Sankara Vara Prasad and he completed his schooling in Nidadavolu, Gurazala, Bapatla, Ponnur, Mangalagiri and Mogalthur. He was also an NCC cadet and participated in Republic Day Parade in New Delhi in the early 70’s.
He completed his graduation from Sri Y N College at Narsapuram and then he shifted to Chennai with a dream of turning into an actor! In 1976, he also completed his acting course at Madras Film Institute!
Megastar made his debut with Pranam Khareedu in 1978 but actually, he first acted in Punadhirallu but due to a delay in the release it turned into his 6th movie and was released in 1979.
Megastar's mother advised him to change his screen name from Vara Prasad to Chiranjeevi as the family worships Lord Anjaneya. With his debut movie itself, he got enough recognition and in the next year itself, he acted in 8 movies and the following year i.e 1980 he acted in 14 movies. They made him stand as one of the best actors in Tollywood!
Megastar tied a knot with Surekha daughter of legendary actor Allu Ramalingaiah on 20th February, 1980. The couple is blessed with a son Ram Charan and two daughters Sushmita and Sreeja.
Chiranjeevi’s Civilian Honours:
• 2006 – Padma Bhushan
• Filmfare South: 7 (Best Actor), One Special Award (2006) and Lifetime Achievement Award (2010)!
• Nandi Awards: 3 (Best Actor) and Raghupathi Venkaiah Award (2016)
• Honorary Doctorate from Andhra University
In the early 90s, Chiranjeevi was one of the highest-paid actors… After earning a sum of Rs 1.25 crores for Aapad Bandhavudu, Chiru surpassed legendary actor Amitabh Bachchan in remuneration as Big B used to demand Rs 1 crore for a movie in those days!
Chiranjeevi’s Gharana Mogudu movie which was helmed by K Raghavendra Rao broke the records and stood as the first Telugu movie to cross Rs 10 crore collections at the box office. It was released in 1992 and had Nagma as the lead actress. The movie also bagged Filmfare Award in the Best Telugu Film category.
Presently Chiranjeevi is working for his upcoming movies Bholaa Shankar and Godfather!
Happy Birthday Chiranjeevi… Hope you continue entertaining us with your amazing screen presence!