Chiranjeevi: Take A Look At These Unknown Facts Of This South Megastar!

Chiranjeevi, who just turns 64, is one of the most popular actors in the Telugu film industry. Chiranjeevi is an actor who needs no introduction for his contribution to Indian cinema. The versatile actor has acted in more than 150 films.

The teaser of the much-awaited film of year Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy was unveiled yesterday. The film is directed by Surender Reddy. It is a period epic action film and stars Chiranjeevi in the lead role.

Star cast like Sudeep, Vijay Sethupathi, Jagapathi Babu, Nayanthara, and Tamannaah Bhatia are part of the supporting cast while Bollywood legendary actor Amitabh Bachchan will appear in a special role.

The teaser received a lot of love from the fans also the massive performance of the south superstar Chiranjeevi and his film is expected to break records at the box office once it hits the screens on October 2.

Let's take a look at the 10 unknown facts about Chiranjeevi!

1. His real name is Konidela Sivasankara Vara Prasad. But his family was a passionate devotee of Lord Hanuman, so his mother advised the actor to change his name to Chiranjeevi, which means to "live forever", which refers to Hanuman being immortal.

2. The actor was born in Mogalthur, a small village near Narsapur in Madras. Chiranjeevi completed his graduation from Sri Y N College at Narsapur in the commerce stream. Before entering the film industry, Chiranjeevi joined the Madras Film Institute in Chennai in the year 1976.

3. Pranam Khareedu was Chiranjeevi's first film which released in the year 1978. But not many know that the actor was to originally make his acting debut in the film Punadhirallu (1978), which got delayed due to some reasons and released a year later in 1979.

4. Reportedly, Auto Johnny will be Chiranjeevi's 150th film in his career span of 37 years. The title of the film is tentative and the film will be directed by Puri Jagannadh.

5. Chiranjeevi's 1990 starrer Kodama Simham film, directed by K. Murali Mohan Rao, was the first South Indian movie that was dubbed in English language. The English version was named as Hunters of the Indian Treasure. According to idle brain his 1987 starrer films, Pasivadi Pranam, and Swayamkrushi were also dubbed in the Russian language. Swayamkrushi was also screened at the Moscow International Film Festival.

6. Chiranjeevi's 1992 film Gharana Mogudu was the first Tollywood film that crossed the record of Rs 10 crore. The film is directed by K. Raghavendra Rao and also stars actress Nagma in the lead role. Gharana Mogudu even won Filmfare Award for Best Film - Telugu. The film was later remade in Hindi as Laadla starring Anil Kapoor and Sridevi.

7. Chiranjeevi entered the world of politics in the year 2008. He started his political party known as Praja Rajyam in Andhra Pradesh. In the 2009 general elections, Chiranjeevi was elected a Member of the State Assembly from Tirupati. Later, in the year 2011, the actor-turned-politician merged his Praja Rajyam Party with the Indian National Congress. In the year 2012, Chiranjeevi was elected as the Minister of Tourism. He is currently the Member of Parliament - Rajya Sabha.

8. Undoubtedly, Chiranjeevi is the Megastar of Telugu film industry. But apart from Tollywood, the actor has also worked in many Tamil, Kannada and Hindi films.

9. Chiranjeevi was honoured with the Padma Bhushan in the year 2006. He also received Honorary Doctorate by Andhra University in the year 2006. The actor won four Nandi Awards and nine Filmfare Awards South for his films. The actor-turned-politician was reportedly tagged as "Bigger than Bachchan" by the Filmfare and India Today magazines.

10. The Week titled him as "The new money machine". Director K. Balachander said that the actor has both Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth in him. Not only can he do action, but he can also act. According to TOI reports, Chiranjeevi was the first South Indian actor who was invited for the annual American awards ceremony ‘Oscar’ in the year 1987.