An special atricle on Megastar by our great Megafan.

An intense performer, and an actor par excellence Chiranjeevi today is a MEGASTAR who has achieved iconic status. In a career spanning almost 25 years, Chiru in his films has essayed performances ranging from the bluntly commercial to the impressively personal and ambitious.

Stoic, laconic and lethal, he came into his own with the character of Surya in KHAIDI. Drawing inspiration from Sylvester Stallone's First Blood, Chiru sizzled across a 150 minute 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 1st innings.

After seeing 2 major debacles in 1995, he took a break for 1 year for some retrospections and introspections.

Then started his Second innings....

Hitler

Chiru took an about turn from his macho man image to a more family man image in this malayalam remake, in which he plays a despotic, yet doting brother of 7 sisters. After several flops, this film showed that chiru is a phoenix, who has risen again to the top. He gave a dignified performance after the Big Boss & Rikshawodu debacle. The story not only showed the people and the film industry that he was serious about his change of image but also displayed his histrionics. Chiru also danced his way into his fans hearts, who had been missing their mighty megastar with his numbers with ramba.

Master :

Chiru showed that he is not only a favorite of kids and older men of 30 years of age but also of the college crowd with this film. He showed with Hitler that he can attract the women folk to watch his films but with this film he attracted the teens and 20 year olds, thus re-emphasizing that he has a hold on all ages of the audience. His role of a happy-go-lucky, yet heartbroken college telugu lecturer was another feather in his cap of varied performances. Though the story was routine, suresh krishna presented chiru in a very different light. It's definitely a story that chiru has never done before. In the flashback portion of the second half, chiru gave a wonderful performance, especially the scene when Roshini dies in his hands and the following scene when he goes after her killer. He also showed his flare for comedy in the first half when he mingles with his students. All in all it was really a wonderful change for chiru and he delivered in every respect, including dance!

Bavagaru Bagunnara :

This film is one of the high points in the last 4 years of chiru's career in that through this film, chiru went from one end of the spectrum to the other. Mostly considered to be a role more suited for rajendra prasad, chiru showed that he's not only a megastar among heros but also a megastar among comedians.His comedic histrionics went to an all-time high in this one, and not at any point does the audience feel that he is overacting. The light-vein entertainer was a treat for people of all ages, kids, teens, older men and women. it's an out and out laugh riot!!!!!!!! what makes this film more enjoyable other than the wonderful comedy with chiru at the center of it all is the melodious music! the songs were absolutely terrific and made the film more worthwhile.

Choodalani Vundi :

Chiru continues with his family man image and plays the role of a father in search of his son in this film.Definitely another excellent performance from chiru. This film also showed that the megastar isn't straying away from action films as he dangled from a truck which was hanging off of a bridge in the final sequences of the film. The family sentiment plus the action showed that chiru is looking for all types of roles.This superhit film had again excellent music from manisharma. Though the film was good and entertaining, it would have been much better had the director concentrated more on chiru's desire to find his son rather than the love story between chiru and anjala. This film is definitely a treat for those chiru fans who are looking for great fights and for those chiru fans who want to see chiru portray an array of emotions, from love, to comedy, to anxiety, to anger, to joy.

Sneham Kosam :

What more can be said about this film other than the fact that this film has given chiru the 1999 filmfare award for best actor! yet another honor for his wonderful performances. Chiru plays the roles of father and son in this highly sentimental drama about how the bonds of friendship are stronger than anything including family ties. Chiru's performance as simhadri was heart-wrenching. There's no chiru in this character at all. He blended so well with the character that it's as if chiru is simhadri and simhadri is chiru.His performance was absolutely wonderful and passionate! Though chiru's dancing abilities were not overly utilized, his dance in the song "voohalalo, voopirilo" was really very good!!!!

Iddaru Mitrulu :

Though this film went above average at the box-office, it reaffirmed that chiru wants to do different roles. He had never done this kind of film before, in which he plays a caring friend to a woman (sakshi sivanand) for whom he is willing to hurt his marriage. However, in trying to do something different, many of his fans believed the story was too soft for chiru. But chiru excelled in his very soft role. It brought the family audiences and the women to the theater. However, his fans had a big treat with the songs, in which chiru dance steps were again amazing!!!!!!!

ANNAYYA :

This big hit (collected about 16 crores at the box office) came after the above average iddara mithrulu. It was chiru's sole release in 2000, but it was enough to shake the box office. With holes in the plot and not as solid a directorial effort from the highly talented muttyala subbaiah, the film ran solely on the charisma of chiru. The film was overall good. It had great songs, a very popular soundarya, good comedy, fights, but still the direction could have been better. Despite this, the film was one of the biggest hits of 2000. Enough can't be said about chiru's performance as rajaram. The role, filled with comedy, sentiment, and action was tailor made for the megastar. Starting off as a lax and doting brother to two younger brothers and ending as brother who believes in tough love, chiru virtually breathed life into rajaram. He showed great versatility: underplayed comedy, sensitive emotional acting, and rough and forcefull machoism. No one could have done this role except for chiru. In fact only chiru could outdo chiru and HE DID! with the surprise package: ATMARAM! While chiru played a perfect gentleman as rajaram, he played a lude, vulgar, and a very crass character in atmaram. He excelled in both. Though he has done both class and mass characters in dual role films like rowdy alludu and donga mogudu, this was different. Atmaram embodied what rajaram wanted to do in his heart and chiru excelled in conveying this dual personality. Nothing needs to be said about the dances or fights because as usual chiru was well, CHIRU!

Mrugraju :

You must be wondering what would possibly be said in an article praising chiru about this abominable film? Well, chiru's dancing. So what, Chiru was, is and will always be the best dancing actor in India. What is new that needs to be mentioned? Well there is something new. The freshness, complexity, and youthfull nature of the steps, many of which he had never done before were amazing! CHIRU NAILED EVERY STEP! What's even more amazing is that chiru was very fat in this film. Even with the extra pounds, chiru danced into the hearts of everyone!

Sri Manjunatha :

Megastar has always wanted to do devotional roles and when he got the opportunity he jumped at it and literally made the fans jump with delight at his successful portrayal of Lord Shiva. To sum it up, Chiru was just simply, OUT OF THIS WORLD! The audience has seen him as Shiva in short bits in films like Apathbandavudu, and there was an air of confidence that he could pull it off as he had the look, the dancing capability and the talent as an actor. But boy did he pull it off! He took everyone's breath away. Though, Chiru had a supporting role, he stole the thunder from the other actors and made his presence felt. From the beginning to end, chiru dominated the film. When the audience felt he could do no better than in the previous scene, he proved everyone wrong by giving a better and more heartfelt performance in the next scene. If he is great in the opening scenes as Shankara, he dazzled everyone as the old man. When all felt that was the highlight, he thrilled the public as aghora. HE WAS JUST SIMPLY SUPERB! But what was better than chiru's acting? Well his shiva thandavam. At this age and during a period when he had gained some weight, Chiru more than proved how great a dancer he is. Without any prior dance training, this natural talent delivered a fabulous Ananda Thandavam.

Daddy :

After the debacle of Mrigaraju and the average run of a dubbed Sri Manjunatha, many of chiru's fans expected a mass masala film. But they were in for a surprise as Chiru came in a family drama. Despite the negative talk, the film had an above average run and recovered its investments, thus proving the stamina of the Megastar. Chiru does not need to answer to anyone. He has reached a stage where he needs to experiment and satisfy his creative urges. He accomplished this goal in this film. He gave a spectacular performance. He was lively, fresh, sensitive, charming, and just a treat to watch on screen. Daddy ranks as one of chiru's best performances. He played a role that was in accordance with his age. Though it is a soft role, he proved that he has a great hold over the family audience, and that the Megastar is not only a "star of stars, king of kings, and heart of a thousand million fans," but he is also a king among actors. No words can describe how great he was in this film! Chiru was heartening to watch. He made you cry, laugh, and cheer! People can feel as if they saw the old, youthful, lively chiru from vijetha days! But he was not like that. HE WAS BETTER! To sum it up, CHIRU TOOK A RISK AND HE SUCCEEDED IN PROVING HIS CRITICS WRONG BY GIVING A MEGA PERFORMANCE! Another noteworthy thing about the film is how great the man looked! He was slim, buff, and looked amazing. The clothes, style, and trendiness of the his outfits accentuated his wonderful looks! The choreography: DIFFERENT! Just as chiru the actor should not do the same roles he did before, likewise, Chiru the dancer should not repeat the same steps. His dance moves were classy, trendy, and stylish! They were a mixture of "atakavala patakavala" moves and Fosse! He combined his mass steps with the elegance of Broadway and proved yet again how amazing an dancer he is!

FINAL THOUGHT:

We don't know where we will be tomorrow, the day after, or after the next 10 years, but one thing is for sure that Chiru will always be in the heart of the Andhra film audience. The man was, is and will always be a phenomenon. No matter how many records others shatter and set, they will never be able to touch Chiru, a TRUE KING OF ACTORS AND AMONG MEN! We read many people's comments about chiru not doing films that suit his image and that he should do films like gang leader. He is afterall an artist and is 46 years old and at this age needs to challenge his acting talents. If he doesn't utilize his skills now, when will he? Ofcourse we can expect something similar from his forth coming films INDRA and the most expensive movie ever made in tollywood, ANJI. HE DOES NOT HAVE TO PROVE THAT HE IS A GREAT ACTOR. THAT HAS ALREADY BEEN ESTABLISHED. He needs to add to his legend. I WISH THE MEGASTAR THE BEST OF LUCK IN ALL HIS ENDEAVORS AND HOPES HE CONTINUES TO AMAZE EVERYONE IN THE FUTURE0!
  -forever chiru fan  VAMSEE! (<My Special thx to him>).   send ur comments Guestbook to mail me click it borntowin4u@yahoo.com