Megastar Chiranjeevi Life in Pics

Megastar Chiranjeevi (Konidela Shiva Shankara Vara Prasad) was born on August 22, 1955.
Chiranjeevi did his schooling in Nidadavolu, Gurajala, Bapatla, Ponnuru, Mangalagiri and Mogalturu. After high school he studied in CSR.Sharma Junior College at Ongole.
He then graduated from YN College in Narasapur with a BCom degree. He was an NCC cadet. Chiranjeevi had participated in the Republic Day Parade in New Delhi as an NCC cadet in the early 70s. In 1977, after his graduation at YN College in Narsapuram, Chiranjeevi moved to Chennai to seek a career in acting.
His two younger brothers Nagendra Babu and Pawan Kalyan are also well settled actors in the South Indian film industry.
Chiranjeevi married Surekha, the daughter of veteran actor and comedian Allu Ramalingaiah.
He has two daughters Sushmitha and Sreeja and a son Ram Charan Teja, a popular actor down south.
He is a popular Tollywood film star and was awarded the Padma Bhushan, the third highest award bestowed by the Government of India.
Chiranjeevi is also the only actor to receive seven Filmfare Best Actor awards.
He announced his formal entry into politics in August 2008 by launching the Praja Rajyam Party at Tirupathi in presence of a big gathering from every corner of the state and participated in 2009 elections.
Coming back to his filmi career, Chiranjeevi was a student at the Madras Film Institute and an amateur stage actor. Before completing his training at the film institute, he attended auditions and selected for the film Punaadi Raallu (1978).
However, Pranam Khareedu was his first film released in theatres.
In the film Paleru Narsayya, he acted without makeup and impressed the prominent members of the industry. Famous directors Bapu and K Balachandar, who had attended the preview of this film, offered the roles in their respective movies.

In Balachander's Idi Katha Kaadu he acted in a negative role, but in Bapu's Manavoori Pandavulu he played one important role. For this movie he received a remuneration of Rs 1116.

Towards the end of 1979, Chirajeevi started gaining pace in the industry with eight releases in the year.

In Kothala Rayudu, a film released during this period, he played the title role for the first time.

In 1980, a record 14 films starring Chiranjeevi hit the theatres, establishing a solid base for him in the industry.

In the next two years Chiranjeevi acted in several films in leading, supporting and even in negative roles.

Most notably, his performances in Punnami Naagu (1980) and Nyayam Kavali (1981), albeit having negative shades, were acclaimed by critics and audience alike.

The year 1983 was a major turning point in Chiranjeevi's career. Khaidi, which was released in October of this year, brought immediate stardom to Chiranjeevi and marked the beginning of his dominance in the industry.

Many film critics believe that the film has influenced the Telugu Cinema much the same way as the Hindi film Sholay influenced Bollywood.

Inspired heavily by the Hollywood flick First Blood, Khaidi  increased the demand for the director and writers also, besides turning the combination of the duo - director A Kodanda Rami Reddy and Chiranjeevi – into one of the most successful combinations in the industry. This duo went on to work together in 23 films in total, most of them being huge box office blockbusters.

He is well versed in Hindi and his performance was appreciated in many Bollywood movies including Prathibandh (1990), Aaj Ka Goonda Raj (1992), The Gentleman (1994) and many more. He also dubbed many of his Telugu films in Hindi.

With several other super hits in the year like Abhilasha apart from Khaidi, Chiranjeevi appeared to be an obvious choice for the superstar position.

Indeed, he would occupy this position within the next few years and, as even his competitors agree, he remained there for more than two decades. Chiranjeevi continued to enjoy commercial success in the following years with hits like Challenge, Rustum and Jwala.

However, the 1985 film Adavi Donga was another important movie in his career in that it marked the beginning of his association with another senior director K Raghavendra Rao

Chiranjeevi acted in his direction for most number of films, after A Kodanda Rami Reddy. In '87 release Pasivadi Pranam, Chiranjeevi introduced Break Dance to Indian Cinema, a dance that drove his fans into craziness. While the industry obsessed with break dance for several years, the film has increased his market value hugely.

Chiranjeevi cemented his place as the undisputed king of Indian box office with super hits like Yamudiki Mogudu, Marana Mrudangam in 1988, and State Rowdi, Attaku Yamudu Ammayiki Mogudu in 1989.

During this period, he was promoted with what is now a popular title “Megastar” in his movies, replacing his old title Supreme Hero. Chiranjeevi's mass following continued to grow bigger and bigger with each passing year and so did his remuneration.

His several films were dubbed and remade in Tamil and Hindi. He also acted in Telugu remakes of Tamil films including Mannan, remade as Gharana Mogudu in Telugu and remade from Telugu as Laadla.

Indra(2002), which was a big Blockbuster in tollywood.

His last release was in 2007 titled Shankar Dada Zindabad

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