Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Chrajeevi the Mega Star of Tallywood

Chiranjeevi (Born: Konidela Siva Sankara Vara Prasad ) was born on 22 August 1955), is an Indian film actor and a politician. He appeared primarily in Telugu films along with a few Hindi films. After graduating with a degree in commerce, Chiranjeevi made his acting debut in Punadhirallu (1978); Pranam Khareedu (1978) released at the box office earlier though. His performance in Khaidi (1983) and Swayam Krushi (1987) got him recognition; the latter winning the Nandi Award – his first major award. He subsequently played a variety of character types; his film roles along with his screen persona contributed to a change in the concept of a Telugu film hero.

Rudraveena (1988), for which Director K. Balachander won the National Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration was produced by Chiranjeevi. The film also made Chiranjeevi win his second Nandi Award for Best Actor. For Muta Mesthri (1993) and Sneham Kosam (1999), he won Filmfare Awards. For his performance in Indra (2003), he won the Filmfare Award and the Nandi Award. These accomplishments established him as a leading actor of Telugu cinema. His last film in a leading role was in Shankar Dada Zindabad (2007).

In 2008, he entered politics by forming the Praja Rajyam Party. In the 2009 Andhra Pradesh elections, Chiranjeevi was elected as a member of the State Assembly from Tirupati constituency. He led the Praja Rajyam Party to emerge as the third largest party in the same election. Popularly known as Megastar in the media,[2] Chiranjeevi was honored with the Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian award. In 2006, he was presented with an honorary doctorate degree from Andhra University.[3] Chiranjeevi is married to Surekha, the daughter of erstwhile comedian Allu Ramalingaiah. They have two daughters and a son, Ram Charan Teja, who is an actor in the Tollywood.