Movie lovers and fans believe that it's high time the star hero reflected on his choices and come out of the 'later-than-life' image.
Published Aug 22, 2023 | 2:22 PM ⚊ Updated Aug 22, 2023 | 3:15 PM
A cutout of Chiranjeevi. (AK entertainment/ Twitter)
There is nothing new to write about Megastar Chiranjeevi as such.
A legacy that ruled the Telugu silver screen for four decades, Chiranjeevi is a person of considerable prominence who evoked myriad emotions on the screen.
He is a star, a reflection of himself who is celebrated by people on and off the screen.
There was a time when Telugu households had time to reminisce about his classics on television, even during his birthdays. But now, the digital world took over television.
Watching his masterpieces seems to be outdated these days.
Now, celebrating his birthday is all about tweeting wishes along with trending hashtags — #Megastar.
A few video clippings or short videos from his old movies pop on Google Chrome, or his achievements are packed and designed as nuggets just to make you remember that Chiranjeevi did something in the past.
Chiranjeevi in ‘Swayamkrushi’. (NFAIOfficial/ Twitter)
The actor turns 68 on Tuesday, 22 August. The more he turns older each year, the more Chiranjeevi is getting restrained with fetters as if he is getting trapped in the image of a “star hero”.
Chiranjeevi is no longer a common person’s star. Films like Challenge (1984), Vijetha (1985), Swayamkrushi (1987), and Abhilasha (1983), which once defined his acting prowess, remained to be showpieces now.
But none of his films in the recent past outwitted these classics!
Senior producer Tammareddy Bharadwaj recently aired his views on the Megastar and questioned why he couldn’t come out of the larger-than-image characters.
Chiranjeevi in ‘Bhola Shankar’. (AK entertainment/ Twitter)
Why isn’t he acting his age? If Aamir Khan could do something unthinkable by playing an aged father with a belly hanging down his waist in Dangal (2016), why Chiranjeevi is trying hard to play the boy-next-door roles by concealing his wrinkles with VFX touch-ups? Why is he misguided?
Not just Tammareddy, even cinephiles on Twitter expressed similar views after his recent release Bhola Shankar (2023) turned out to be a disaster at the box office.
They questioned why Chiranjeevi is not collaborating with young directors like Tharun Bhascker, Vivek Athreya, Venkatesh Maha, and Nag Ashwin.
The netizens also wondered why he still rubbing shoulders with commercial directors who delivered nothing more than duds.
For instance, in the case of Acharya (2022), analysts opined that if Chiranjeevi was pro-right-wing and did something good for the poor, instead of playing a naxal leader, the film would have been a hit in the new-India context.
They also observed that Bhola Shankar, too, would probably have scored a decent talk, had the makers stuck on to the original story rather than rehashing it completely.
This isn’t it! Vijay Deverakonda’s comment on big stars, too, went viral on social media.
The Liger actor remarked that stars like Chiranjeevi and Rajinikanth are beyond hits and flops.
He further added that even if they deliver four flops consecutively, they’re going to stand in the race with one big hit — just like Rajinikanth does with Jailer (2023).
But does one big hit alter Chiranjeevi’s image besides box office numbers? Can the Megastar regain the image that he once enjoyed during the 80s?
Probably yes; provided he makes some wise decisions!
