Konidala Shiva Shankar Vara Prasad  more popularly known to millions of Indians as Megastar Chiranjeevi was born on 22nd August 1955 in Narsapuram, West Godavari Andhra Pradesh.  While Chiranjeevi would be celebrating his birthday tomorrow, the time is just appropriate to have a look at his illustrious career. 

Chiranjeevis initial phase:- Chiranjeevi made his debut in 1978 and attained success almost immediately stringing a sequence of successful films most of which were family oriented themes like Intilo Ramayya Veedhilo Krishnayya which ran for more than a year and eventhough  Chiranjeevi won great critical acclaim for most of his movies by jury and audience alike it was Khaidi which released in 1983 which capitulated him to super stardom and from there on Chiranjeevi never looked back as there was never a lean phase ever in his career.  Chiranjeevi's action packed performance in the blockbuster film Khaidi also set a new trend in Telugu movies as the theme on most of the movies since the release of super success of Khaidi has been on hero in action oriented roles.

Chiranjeevi Delivered hits for more than 25 years:- Chiranjeevi continued delivering hit after hit for more than 25 years and he delivered so many hits it is difficult to recall a particular hit.  Infact it would be easy to count Chiranjeevi's flops because there are hardly any and his flops have collected substantially higher revenue than the blockbusters delivered by other stars.  Some of Chiranjeevi's memorable hits are Mahanagarmalo Mayagadu and Challenge released in 1984.  Adavi Donga in 1985, Kondaveeti Raja in 1986, Pasavadi Pranam in 1987, Manchi Donga, Yamudiki Mogudu, Khaidi No.786 in 1988.  Gang Leader released in 1991 was a landmark film in the history of Telugu cinema as it was one of the biggest ever grossers of all time.  The film also made Chiranjeevi the highest paid actor in Indian films.  Chiranjeevi became the first Indian film hero to be paid more than One Crore for a movie.  It was a remarkable achievement because no regional actor has ever been paid more than a bollywood hero and even though Rajanikath till recently was the highest paid actor the credit should go to Chiranjeevi because it was who he set the trend.

Chiranjeevi has a few firsts to his credit.  In the first place it was Chiranjeevi who introduced break dance to Indian audience and in this regard credit should go to Mithun Chakraborty who introduced dancing to Indian audience when he disco danced his way to million through the block buster Disco Dancer released in 1982.  In an era when fights looked childish to the audience, Chiranjeevi introduced fights in a systematic and stylish way and his dances and fights were a treat to millions of his fans andto those who were not his fans. Chiranjeevi was not just a great actor but a pioneer in many ways who set bencmarks for many.

Chiranjeevi's transition from Dynamic Hero to Mega Star:- Chiranjeevi enjoyed yet another first in his career when the title given to him was changed from time to time in view of his unprecedented success.  While actors like Krishna were conferred the tag  "Superstar" and had on to hold on till retirement fans of Chiranjeevi were never content witha tag because his performances made them rethink and feel disatisfied.  Intially Chiranjeevi's performances earned him th tag "Dynamic Hero".  Fans not content gave him a new nag "Daring Dashing and Dynamic Hero" and subsequently to "Supreme Hero" and finally to "Megastar" which stayed on till he quit films.  While many have been give the tag "Superstar" in bollywood and regional movies Chiranjeevi is the only actor to be conferred the "Mega Star"

Chiranjeevi is a one man army"- Usually exceptional sportsman of the likes of Sachin Tendulkar are referred to as "One Man Army" and if there was a film actor who could be referred to as One Man Army it is Chiranjeevi because the distributors bank soley on him for the revenue and they get many times of what they have invested irrespective of whether the film is a hit which is almost sure and if the film flops which is a rarity.  Chiranjeevi apart from being a brilliant actor is a brilliant dancer and extraordinarily brilliant in stunts and to his credit has performed some real risky stunts in movies.  Chiranjeevi apart from his heroics in movies is a hero is real life as he once saved his co star from near death in a risky stunt in the movie Manchi Donga released in 1988.

Chiranjeevi was a perfectionist and had no competition during his rein at the top:- Many actors are known for being perfectionists but Chiranjeevi went beyond them.  Once actor Nagarjuna remarked that Chiranjeevi was not only particular about perfection in the scenes which involved him but wanted perfection in scenes which involved others in the movie which is a rarity. According to Venkatesh who himelf is a leading actor he said that Chiranjeevi has been the undisputed number one since 1987 till his retirement and it is difficult to imagine that a actor can consistently deliver hits more than 25 years.

Heroines made merry during Chiranjeevi's rein at the top:- Heroines cashed in on Chiranjeevi's popularity and made it big in the industry.  Chiranjeevi and Radha made a perfect pair of on screen lovers while Vijayshanthi and Chiranjeevi made the perfect onscreen couple.  While heroines like Bhanupriya, Radha and Vijayshanthi made the most of being paired with Chiranjeevi, it was Vijayshanthi who was the biggest beneficiary reeling in super hits like Manchi Donga, Mahanagarmlo Mayagadu and Gang leader just to name a few among the many super hits the pair delivered. Chiranjeevi paired up with almost every heroine like Nagma, Soundarya and Ramyakrishna

Lakhs benefited from Chiranjeevis Charitable Trust:- On October 2 1998, Chiranjeevi founded the Chiranjeevi Charitable Trust which collects blood and eye from donors.  The Trust has is the biggest in Andhra Pradhesh and lakhs have been benefited from the blood and eye banks.  Chiranjeevi had once famously made a appeal to his fans that he does not want them to waste their blood for him, but would be happier if they can donate that amount of blood to blood banks. 

Padma Bhushan for Chiranjeevi:- Megastar Chiranjeevi was awarded Padma Bhusan, the third highest civilian award in India for his extra ordinary performances in a career spanning three decades and for his unparalleledservices in the field of charity. While many actors have been awarded Padma Shri, Chiranjeevi is among the very few actors to have been awared Padma Bhusan.

The world has seen many greats and almost all of them have blundered in one thing and that is their retirement in timing their retirement from their respective fields but Chiranjeevi has proved to be a glorious exception as he retired on his own terms and that too as the number one.  Chiranjeevi timed his entry to politics at the right time but it was sheer destiny the move did not click because nobody else deserved to be a better Chief Minister than Chiranjeevi.