In a career spanning three decades and 140 plus films, Chiranjeevi's filmography is a mosaic dotted with different genres of cinema which have spelt commercial success at the box office and brought him critical acclaim too.
Chiru has seen it all -- success, glory, fame, name, the ups and downs of tinseldom -- since his first release Pranam Khareedu way back in 1978.
Movies have brought him mega stardom (he is perhaps the only Indian star to be addressed as mega star) and the masses in Andhra Pradesh love their hero. There is frenzy when his movie releases, tickets are hard to get, there is near stampede to see their mega star dance, fight, act and entertain on screen.
So it's hard to pick ten movies out of the vast repertoire. The following selection is made on the basis of blockbuster success and critical acclaim.
Abhilasha (1983)
The film is an adaptation of Yandamuri Veerendranath's novel (also titled Abhilasha) directed by A Kodandarami Reddy.
Chiru, who essayed the role of a struggling lawyer and his fight to abolish death sentence by hanging, shared screen space with Allu Arvind, his brother-in-law.
With Rao Gopal Rao (playing a noted criminal lawyer Viswhwanatham) and Radhika (Vishwanatham's niece Archana), Chiranjeevi plans a fake murder as part of his plan to abolish the death sentence. The film is all about whether he succeeds or not in his dream. Chiranjeevi gave a convincing performance as the lawyer.
Text: Radhika Rajamani
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