To Chiru, with love
2002 — a three-year-old kid was taken to a place where people were watching something on the screen, cheering for a man, and enjoying the whole time. That kid didn’t know what was happening but enjoyed it throughout. His father took him to that place thrice again, making that kid’s visit to that place four times even before that kid turned four and started going to school!
That kid vaguely remembers people imitating that man’s dance moves while they were seeing him on a bigger screen (the kid didn’t know what a screen was back then) and were going crazy whenever that man appeared on the screen.
That kid was me, the place was a cinema hall and that man is Chiranjeevi! My father, who was a big fan of Chiranjeevi, took me to watch Indra and so before I was sitting in classrooms, I was sitting in cinema halls!
Indra was my first theatrical experience, with every passing year until high school I watched every Chiranjeevi film in a theater.
The immediate release after Indra was Tagore and I got emotional in several scenes and was disturbed in the flashback scene. It was too much for me as a child, but that didn’t stop me from watching Tagore again in the theater. Tagore also had a Veena step, continuing the winning streak after Indra’s Veena step. And the music in both movies was good!
My father got a wall poster of Tagore in our hall and we used to look at it every day before going to school.
Then came Anji. If you ask anyone who watched Anji during their childhood, I think most of them will mention that they were amazed by the visuals and the music along with Chiru’s screen presence. I am still awestruck by certain moments in that movie.
And next, Shankar Dada MBBS. This movie was a laugh riot and our entire family had a great time throughout the movie. And by the way, Sonali Bendre was ❤
Storytime: My father went to Hyderabad for a training session. On his way back in the train, he bought a water bottle and brought it home. This water bottle was from Bibo. I remember seeing a Bibo poster in a song in Shankar Dada MBBS and I kept that disposable bottle with me for many days just because that bottle’s advertisement appeared in Chiru’s movie! That was my mad love.
Then came Srinu Vaitla’s Andarivadu. We watched it twice and loved the moments when both Chiranjeevis appeared on screen. As a promotional event, the movie collaborated with Andhra Jyothi newspaper and organized a contest where the winners would get a photo of Chiranjeevi with his signature. I don’t remember the details of the contest but my sister Sameera was one of the winners. She got the photo and we were ecstatic!
Jai Chiranjeeva, Stalin and Shankar Dada Zindabad were the next movies which weren’t as good as his previous movies. So we didn’t watch them twice 🙂 .
We even watched Raghava Lawrence’s Style in the theaters because Chiru did a cameo in that movie!
Our whole family used to go to the theaters to watch his movies. My grandmother used to accompany us to many of his movies.
And then the shock — he quit movies for politics.
I was in BTech when his comeback movie came out. I went to the theater with my friends and though I had seen Murugadoss’ original Kaththi, I watched Khaidi Number 150 just to see him on screen after a long time. Honestly, the movie was mediocre and not satisfying.
After getting access to TV, cell phone, and laptop, I explored his filmography further and watched Choodalani Vundi, Annayya, Bavagaru Bagunnara, Hitler, Rudraveena, Apadhbandhavudu, etc.
Then his “Sye Raa” came out. I couldn’t see it in the theater but I liked some scenes. After that, I couldn’t care much about his movies and didn’t watch his next movies except Waltair Veerayya.
I couldn’t watch Waltair Veerayya in the theater. I watched it at home on Netflix and was happy to see him back in form. I couldn’t rate it as a great movie but I was happy that it was a better movie among his recent outings.
And now this Bhola Shankar. I don’t think I would watch it even on OTT.
My father and I went to see “Oke Oka Jeevitham” last year. An usher in the theater, while talking to my father, felt sad about the footfalls. He remembered the days of Indra and Tagore when the theaters were crowded and the audience didn’t even care to sit, but they were okay to stand and watch the movie and cheer for Chiranjeevi.
He also commented on the frequent re-releases of these movies during that time, and the audiences didn’t hesitate to flock to the theaters even for the re-releases.
He was sad that people weren’t going to the theaters anymore, and he was right. When my father and I went to the theater, there were barely 20 people in the hall!
“Oke Oka Jeevitham” also had Chiranjeevi references :)
Though filmmakers and choreographers claim that they are his biggest fans, somehow it is not reflected in the movies.
Chiranjeevi’s strong zone is comedy and emotional scenes, but people haven’t tapped his potential yet.
Most of his movies in the late 90s and early 2000’s like Annayya had scenes that stood out and were much better than all his recent movies.
His dancing is known for its simple yet elegant steps. His grace is unmatched in Telugu cinema. But he hasn’t been seen lately. Watch Vaana Vallappa song from Annayya and you will know what I’m talking about.
His grace in dance moves, innocence and sarcasm in comedy, and eye expressions in emotional scenes are something I love.
We used to have at least one song from his movies on a loop. But now people don’t even listen to his movie songs for the second time.
Even the trailers or teasers feel like the movie has a lot of creepy stuff in it, and I resist even watching them, which makes me lose respect for the movies he’s making these days.
Am I putting him down? Hell, no! I love him so much that I want his potential to be used and bring back that glory on screen. We want Chiranjeevi who did comedy effortlessly, who made us emotional just with his eyes, whose elegance made us groove to the songs, whose dance moves made us go crazy in the theaters.
Chiranjeevi is truly a cultural phenomenon and I sincerely wish that he comes back strong with the movies that make us cheer for him.
By the way, my father had an opportunity to meet him and take a photograph with him when he visited our town to shoot Kondaveeti Raja. We have this photograph in our house. And when Chiru was on tour for Praja Rajyam Party, I got to see him from a distance in my town. I also visited his blood bank at Jubilee Hills in 2017. Good memories 🙂
Coming to the tribute paid to Chiru by young filmmakers, I think Ante Sundaraniki had one of the best moments of celebrating Chiru! This song is something else.
Also, looking at the filmmakers he’s working with, I wish these collaborations would happen:
Sekhar Kammula — Tabu — Musical Drama
Raj and DK — Social satire
Vivek Athreya — Dark comedy
Sandeep Reddy Vanga — Action thriller
Murugadoss — Political movie
Last one — Any director with Kamal’s script for Chiru for an espionage thriller.
