Chiranjeevi has been entertaining us for over four decades with an eclectic body of work that started out with small supporting roles and ultimately led to defining the action hero of mainstream Telugu cinema.
The actor has been a part of Telugu social life and pop culture history for over 46 years and continues to have one of the most devoted followings among his peers.
After a routine run of character roles and leading man turns, the film that catapulted Chiranjeevi into stardom was Khaidi (1983).
His career has seen blockbusters and industry-defining classics, coupled with some truly bizarre performances that contributed to his legendary status.
Arjun Menon celebrates his 70th birthday on August 22 with this roster of his memorable films.
Abhilasha (1983)
Cast: Chiranjeevi, Radhika, Rao Gopal Rao, Gollapudi Maruti Rao
Director: A Kodandarami Reddy
Not the most popular entry from his early filmography, this early box office flop demonstrated the strong performance style of the up-and-coming actor at the time.
The legal drama features a lengthy monologue by Chiranjeevi’s lawyer character, which has made its way into many fan edits over the years.
Director A Kodandarami Reddy has admitted that the film played a major role in altering the careers of the cast and crew involved.
Inspired by the 1956 Fritz Lang noir classic Beyond a Reasonable Doubt, Abhilasha deals with a struggling lawyer’s attempt to abolish Section 302 — capital punishment — as a result of a tragedy in his family.
Khaidi (1983)
Cast: Chiranjeevi, Madhavi
Director: A Kodandarami Reddy
Chiranjeevi and A Kodandarami Reddy had a fruitful actor-director partnership and churned out a long list of blockbuster action movies.
Immediately after Abhilasha came Khaidi, a revenge drama which is considered as the turning point in Chiranjeevi’s career.
It established the Angry Young Man phase of Chiranjeevi’s career, and the bandana-wearing rogue action hero waging a war against the corrupted system template was perfected with this movie.
The screenplay, co-written by the Paruchuri Brothers, (who would go on to be regular collaborators with Chiranjeevi), combined action with the right sprinkling of melodrama.
Watching this film, you can see a star being born right in front of your eyes.
It’s the swag.
It’s the eyes.
It’s the sublime Indian mythic heroism played out in all its glory.
Swayamkrushi (1987)
Cast: Chiranjeevi, Vijayashanti, Sarvadaman D Banerjee, Sumalatha
Director: K Viswanath
After his successful Shubhalekha (1982) came Swayamkrushi, the rags-to-riches story of a cobbler and his family.
The film is structured around a cobbler who makes it big in the city after a strenuous personal and emotional journey.
These were times in which you could see Chiranjeevi immerse himself in characters without being bogged down by the dictates of his superstardom, which would go on to reduce his risk-taking in playing flawed people with real-life problems.
It is truly fascinating to view this drama play out with solid performances from Chiranjeevi and Vijayasanthi in a rare movie together.
The gritty realism of K Viswanathan’s cinema is a good place to start for lovers of the star interested in exploring his earlier films that came out before his persona became larger-than-life.
Rudraveena (1988)
Cast: Chiranjeevi, Gemini Ganesan, Shobana, P L Narayana, Prasad Babu
Director: K Balachandar
A total departure for Chiranjeevi at the height of his ‘action hero’ persona, this low-key musical drama told the story of an ideological rift between a musical teacher and his son.
The film is a delightfully pleasant, swoony romance between Chiranjeevi and Shobana.
The son going out from the family, finding his voice, and fighting for social justice through his art are all familiar themes in K Balachandar’s cinema.
Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari (1990)
Cast: Chiranjeevi, Sridevi Amrish Puri, Kannada Prabhakar, Allu Ramalingaiah, Rami Reddy
Director: Kovelamudi Raghavendra Rao
Much before ‘Pan Indian’ films were a thing, Chiranjeevi and Director K Raghavendra Rao worked in this ambitious fantasy outing.
The film was a major box office success, becoming the highest earning Telugu movie of that time.
Chiranjeevi’s onscreen chemistry with Sridevi has also aged very well.
Choodalani Vundi (1996)
Cast: Chiranjeevi, Soundarya, Anjala Zaveri, Prakash Raj.
Director: Gunasekhar
After a series of underwhelming releases in the mid-1990s like S P Parasuram, The Gentleman and Big Boss, all of which kept his stardom afloat but did nothing to advance his career forward, Chiranjeevi made a great comeback with Choodalani Vundi in 1996.
The film saw him return to the steady template commercial cinema replete with action, emotional sequences, and a banger soundtrack composed by Mani Sharma.
The song Yamaha Nagari has become a viral sensation on social media.
Indra (2002)
Cast: Chiranjeevi, Sonali Bendre, Aarthi Agarwal
=Director: B Gopal
One of Chiranjeevi’s biggest hits, this may be many millennials and Gen Z viewers’ entry point into his dense body of work.
The film, which told the story of a warring village and a reluctant hero archetype, was also penned by the Paruchuri Brothers and played to Chiranjeevi’s strengths.
One of the most expensive Telugu films ever made at that time, Indra accentuated Chiranjeevi’s stardom for a long time.
Shankar Dada MBBS (2004)
=Cast: Chiranjeevi, Sonali Bendre, Srikanth, Girish Karnad, Paresh Rawal
Director: Jayanth C Paranjee
A remake of Rajkumar Hirani’s cult classic Munnabhai MBBS (2003), which was also adapted by Kamal Haasan in 2004, this film is important among Chiranjeevi’s early 2000s output.
Shankar Dada MBBS does not hold up to the novelty of the original Hindi version or Sanjay Dutt’s deadpan performance style, but Chiranjeevi made the most of the comedic possibilities on paper.
Stalin (2006)
Cast: Chiranjeevi, Trisha, Khushbu Sundar, Prakash Raj, Sharada, Pradeep Rawat, Brahmanandam
Director: A R Murugadoss
Chiranjeevi joined hands with A R Murugadoss for this political film.
Stalin was one of the more serious-minded Chiranjeevi films during this phase, and the film has aged better than some of his other releases. But the film follows a regular template to a fault in many places.
Sye Ra Narasimha Reddy (2019)>
Cast: Chiranjeevi, Sudeep, Vijay Sethupathi, Ravi Kishan, Jagapathi Babu, Nayanthara, Tamannaah Bhatia, Amitabh Bachchan
Director: Surender Reddy
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His long-awaited dream project, based on the life of freedom fighter Uyyalawada Narasimha Reddy, is one of his better recent films.
Made on a massive scale and produced by son Ram Charan, the film provided challenge to the actor in Chiranjeevi.
This was the last time a big Chiranjeevi film was able to recreate the hype and prominence of his earlier works. For a fleeting second, Chiranjeevi regained the pop cultural icon status back with this film, which did moderately well at the box office.
The news of Chiranjeevi joining hands with young filmmakers like Mallidi Vassishta and Srikanth Odela gives hope for the next phase of his career.
Photographs curated by Satish Bodas/Rediff
