1978–1981: Early career Since his family worshipped Anjaneya (
Hanuman), a
Hindu deity, his mother advised him to take the screen name "
Chiranjeevi", meaning "Immortal", a reference to the belief of Hanuman living forever. Chiranjeevi started his film career with
Punadhirallu (1979).
Mana Voori Pandavulu (1978), directed by
Bapu, gave Chiranjeevi recognition from the Telugu audience. In 1981, he played lead antagonist in works such as
Mosagadu,
Rani Kasula Rangamma,
47 Natkal /
47 Rojulu,
Nyayam Kavali and
Ranuva Veeran.
1982–1986: Breakthrough with leading roles Chiranjeevi began to appear in leading roles with films such as (1982), directed by
Kodi Ramakrishna, which was a hit at the box office. Later, he starred in
Subhalekha (1982), directed by
K. Viswanath, which dealt with the social malady of the
dowry system. It brought him his first
Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu and Viswanath's third
Filmfare Award for Best Director – Telugu. In 1982, he also appeared in movies such as
Idi Pellantara,
Sitadevi,
Tingu Rangadu,
Bandhalu Anubandhalu and
Mondi Ghatam. He acted in multi-star movies such as
Patnam Vachina Pativrathalu and
Billa Ranga, and later appeared in
Manchu Pallaki.
Khaidi (1983) was a box office success and Chiranjeevi attained stardom with this movie. In 1985, he received his second
Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu for his performance in
Vijetha.
1987–2007: Commercial success Chiranjeevi received his first
Nandi Award for Best Actor for
Swayamkrushi (1987), directed by K. Viswanath.
Pasivadi Pranam (1987),
Yamudiki Mogudu (1988) and
Manchi Donga (1988) also did well at the box office. He co-produced and acted in
Rudraveena (1988), which won the
Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration, and the
Nandi Special Jury Award. The title "Megastar" appeared for the first time in the title cards of the 1988 release
Marana Mrudangam, marking its association with Chiranjeevi. The incident was recalled by Chiranjeevi in 2023, who took it lightly as an act of misguided admiration. He then experimented with
Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari (1990), a
fantasy film directed by
K. Raghavendra Rao and produced by
Aswini Dutt. Other notable works during this period include
Kondaveeti Donga (1990), released in
70 mm format with 6-Track
stereophonic sound, the
cowboy film Kodama Simham (1990), and the social problem
action film Gang Leader (1991). These films were major box-office successes and established Chiranjeevi as the "Boss of Telugu cinema". The 1992 film
Gharana Mogudu was the first South Indian and Telugu film to collect over 10
crore in
distributor share at the box office. Chiranjeevi's
Bollywood performances were appreciated in
Pratibandh and
Aaj Ka Goonda Raaj. For his role in
Aapadbandhavudu (1992), he received his second
Nandi Award for Best Actor and third
Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu. The mid-1990s saw a career dip for Chiranjeevi with box office duds such as
S. P. Parasuram,
The Gentleman,
Big Boss and
Rikshavodu. There were exceptions, such as
Muta Mestri, which fetched him a fourth Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu;
Mugguru Monagallu and
Alluda Majaka were also successful. Chiranjeevi's new decade started with
Annayya (2000). After a brief gap, Chiranjeevi starred in
Indra, released in 2002, which broke all his previous box office records of
Tollywood and won him his third
Nandi Award for Best Actor and sixth Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu. After that, he appeared in films with an underlying message and a social cause, including
Tagore; Shankar Dada M.B.B.S., for which he won his seventh and latest Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu; and
Stalin. He was awarded the
Filmfare Special Award – South in 2006 and the
Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award – South at the
58th Filmfare Awards South in 2011 for his contributions to the film industry.
2008–2016: Hiatus in film career , and
Ram Charan at "Incredible India" event in the
2013 Cannes Film Festival Following his last film in the lead role, 2007's
Shankar Dada Zindabad, Chiranjeevi did not star in any film for approximately 10 years, during which he embarked on his political career. He was elected to the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembley in 2009, and then to the Rajya Sabha in 2012. In the
2012 Indian Cabinet reshuffle he was made Minister of State for Tourism. During these 10 years, his appearances in films were limited to
cameo roles. He appeared as himself in two films, starring his son
Ram Charan, namely
Magadheera (2009) and
Bruce Lee: The Fighter (2015). He also narrated
Varudu (2010) and
Rudhramadevi (2015).
2017–present: Comeback From 2013 onwards, he was on the lookout for the right script to mark his comeback into cinema, in what would coincidentally happen to be his 150th film as an actor. A year following the release of the successful 2014 Tamil film
Kaththi, Chiranjeevi chose to remake that film in Telugu as his comeback film. The remake, titled
Khaidi No. 150, directed by
V. V. Vinayak, was released during the
Sankranti holiday in 2017, about six months short of a decade following
Shankar Dada Zindabad, to positive reviews. Critics have singled out Chiranjeevi in particular, praising him for both his performance and appearance, especially following a decade of absence from cinema. The movie collected 41.75
crore on its opening day and grossed 164 crore in its lifetime. In 2019, he starred in his first
period film Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy based on the life of
Uyyalawada Narasimha Reddy; it was directed by
Surender Reddy. The movie made on a budget more than 200270 crore, grossed more than in its theatrical run. Chiranjeevi had two releases in 2022. His first film was
Acharya directed by
Koratala Siva co-starring Chiranjeevi's son
Ram Charan. His second release was
GodFather directed by
Mohan Raja. The film had
Salman Khan in an extended cameo role and was largely successful.
GodFather subsequently released on
Netflix. Also in 2022, Chiranjeevi's performance as
Batman in the song "Vana Gadiyaramlo" from
Muta Mestri went vial, boosting global interest Chiranjeevi and in the performance. Chiranjeevi then starred in the 2023 film
Waltair Veerayya directed by
Bobby Kolli which released during the
Sankranti festival. The film also starred
Ravi Teja in an important role, reuniting them on screen after 23 years since the 2000 film
Annayya. The film met huge commercial success.
Waltair Veerayya later released on Netflix for streaming. In the same year, he also appeared in
Bhola Shankar, a remake of the 2015 Tamil blockbuster,
Vedalam. However, it opened to unanimously negative reviews and was a huge disaster at the box-office. He announced his next film,
Vishwambhara (2025), with
Mallidi Vassishta of
Bimbisara (2022) fame. ==Other work==