From Silver Screen to Padma Glory: Chiranjeevi's Journey Celebrated on Republic Day Eve

The Government of India has announced the recipients of the distinguished Padma Awards on the eve of the 75th Republic Day festivities. Among the luminaries recognized is the celebrated actor Chiranjeevi, who has been conferred with the Padma Vibhushan, the nation's second-highest civilian award. Expressing his profound humility and gratitude upon receiving this honor, Chiranjeevi extended his heartfelt thanks to his admirers and family, attributing his success to their unwavering support and affection.

Brief Profile of Chiranjeevi:

Chiranjeevi, a stalwart in the Indian film industry, has carved a niche for himself with his versatile acting and dynamic screen presence. Born on August 22, 1955, in Andhra Pradesh, he rose to fame in the Telugu cinema before making significant inroads into Bollywood. Known for his impactful roles in over 150 films, Chiranjeevi's contributions to cinema span various genres, earning him numerous accolades and a dedicated fan base. Beyond his cinematic achievements, Chiranjeevi is also recognized for his philanthropic efforts and his brief stint in politics, showcasing a multifaceted personality that resonates with many. His receipt of the Padma Award underscores his monumental influence on Indian cinema and his role as a cultural icon. 


Professional Journey:

• Dr.Chiranjeevi began his acting career with Punadirallu (Foundation Stones) and Pranam Khareedu (The Price of Life) in 1977 and went on to act in 147 films in Telugu, 3 in Hindi, 3 in Tamil, and 2 in Kannada so far.
• Dr.Chiranjeevi gained recognition as a Mega Star for his superlative performances, heroic looks, excellent command over dance, perfect comedy timing, and above all for his dedication towards his work.
• On one hand, he had earned the appreciation of the critics and the class audience with socially conscious scripts like Subha Lakha, Swayam Krushi, Rudra Veena, Apathbandhavudu, and Tagore, and on the other hand, he won over the masses with his films like Chantabbai, Khaidi, Jagadeka veerudu Athiloka Sundari, GangLeader, Gharanamogudu, Mutha Mesthri, Hitler, Master, Indra, Sankaradada, Khaidi No.150 and many more.
• Dr.Chiranjeevi’s unparalleled popularity cuts across all age groups, and geographic & linguistic boundaries. The people of Telugu States with all their love and affection, call him Megastar.
• In a career span of 45 years, Chiranjeevi was hailed as the ‘Man of the Masses’ ,  listed among the ‘Top 50 Power People of India’. 
• Dr. Chiranjeevi has made pioneering efforts to channelize the collective energy of his vast fan following towards social causes. The Chiranjeevi Charitable Trust’s exceptional work in the area of eye and blood donation is noteworthy. He had also extensively campaigned against Child Labor.”

Awards and Recognition:

• Won the Andhra Pradesh State Three Nandi Awards for Swayam Krushi (1987) & Apathbandhavudu (1992), Indra (2002) 
• Received the Nargis Dutt Award for National Integration for his film Rudra Veena (his home production) in the year 1988.
• Won seven Film Fare Awards for the Best Actor- the highest number of these awards won by any Telugu actor under a single category.

• The seventh Film Fare Award was for his poignant yet hilarious performance in the film Sankardada MBBS (2004) 
• Apart from these, he received countless accolades from innumerable cultural organizations such as Vamsi-Berkeley, Kalasagar Chennai, Santosham Film Magazine, Sitara Film Magazine, Screen Videocon Awards, Rotary club, Academy of Fine Arts Tirupati. 
• Dr.Chiranjeevi also received the NTR Life Time Achievement Award from Vamsi Art Academy.
• Dr. Chiranjeevi received the Padmabhushan, the third-highest civilian honor in India in the year 2007. 

• He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Andhra University in the same year.
• In November’2022, Dr.Chiranjeevi was bestowed the Prestigious IFFI ‘Indian Film Personality of the Year’ Award at the 53rd International Film Festival of India – Goa. The Award was presented to Shri Chiranjeevi by the Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting Shri.Anurag Thakur.

Achievements in the area of social work:

• Over four and half decades of excellence in Telugu cinema has fetched Chiranjeevi a huge fan following and transformed him into one of the most popular individuals in the Telugu States. Chiranjeevi chose to give a positive direction to his fan base to become a force for the social good.
• Dr.Chiranjeevi had started the Chiranjeevi Charitable Trust on October 2nd, 1998. The trust was set up with Blood and Eye Donation wings. Chiranjeevi’s devoted fans took this movement to great heights and are relentlessly working towards spreading awareness in the fields of Blood and Eye Donation.

• As of today, Chiranjeevi Blood Bank has secured the collection and donation of over a phenomenal 10 Lakh units of blood to those in need of life-saving blood and has also arranged to restore the eyesight of a staggering 9 thousand people through corneal transplants.
• An appeal for eye donation and blood donation is part of every print of a Chiranjeevi film. Dr.Chiranjeevi also ensured an unprecedented amount of space in the news and electronic media for these causes.
• Dr.Chiranjeevi takes greater pride in the Knowledge that his Blood Bank saved someone’s life than the fact that any of his films became a Silver Jubilee.
• Not limiting himself to the fantasy-filled world of films, Chiranjeevi has involved himself in various public welfare activities and acted as a socially responsible citizen, this apart from his own Chiranjeevi Charitable Trust activities. Once convinced about the relevance of any campaign, Chiranjeevi has always been associated with it.
• In 2002, Dr. Chiranjeevi was selected as the Ambassador from Andhra Pradesh to the cause of International Child Labour’. He was featured in a short film as part of the ‘International Program on the Elimination of Child Labour. 
• Dr.Chiranjeevi pledged his support to the Heroes Project co-chaired by Hollywood actor Richard Gere. The project aimed to work towards spreading awareness on HIV AIDS in different parts of the world. 
• The Andhra Pradesh Government has awarded the ‘Best Voluntary Blood Bank Service Award’ to Chiranjeevi Blood Bank for Five consecutive years, viz 2002, 2003, 2004,2005,2006 even from amongst 161 blood banks that had vied for the award.
• Apart from donating funds to tsunami-devastated Tamilnadu, Dr.Chiranjeevi had also donated generous sums to the then Chief Minister’s Relief Fund of AP, during the tenure of Late Dr.Y.S.Rajasekhar Reddy, to help with rehabilitation and early recovery of the tsunami affected areas in Andhra Pradesh.
• Dr.Chiranjeevi donated liberally twice to the relief works during the cyclone disasters in Andhra Pradesh, during the regime of then Chief Minister, Sri Nara Chandrababu Naidu. He has made donations to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund.
• Inspired by the call of the then Hon’ble President APJ Abdul Kalam, Dr.Chiranjeevi took part in the Lead India 2020 Foundation, held at Lal Bahadur Stadium, Hyderabad. 
• At the request of UNICEF, Dr.Chiranjeevi had campaigned to help protect children by eradicating the Polio virus from the face of Andhra Pradesh. 
• Did motivational campaigns on eye donation on the occasion of Eye Donors’ Day along with then His Excellency Governor Rangarajan at Sarojini Devi Eye Hospital.
• Even during the Latoor earthquake, Chiranjeevi had motivated his fans to provide relief and assistance to the victims. 
• Sri Chiranjeevi Aided the heart transplant operation of a Pakistani girl, Batool Hasan at the Global Hospital, Hyderabad. The recovered kid was accorded a hearty farewell and was celebrated in the presence of then Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Late Dr. Y.S.Rajsekhar Reddy.
• To inspire youngsters on traffic awareness Dr.Chiranjeevi had taken guard of honor from young commandos in Traffic Awareness Camps held by Andhra Pradesh Traffic Police. He always emphasizes that the right guidance to the children of today will make them the best citizens for tomorrow.
• He has inspired the police department to conduct several blood Donation camps. One such exemplary blood donation campaign was conducted by AP Police and Greyhounds.
• Dr.Chiranjeevi had participated in the ’Kadapotsav’,a cultural and heritage festival held in Kadapa District
• On 9th September 2002, Chiranjeevi was felicitated with ‘SAMMAN AWARD’ for the Highest Income Tax Payer-Profession for the assessment year 1999-2000 by the Minister of State for Finance, Government of India.
• In 1988, when the cotton farmers of Andhra Pradesh had committed suicides, Dr.Chiranjeevi helped their families and provided Financial relief to them. 
• Apart from his personal donations, he has always motivated his fans to rush to the site of any calamity to provide immediate relief. Inspired by his vision, Dr.Chiranjeevi’s fans were one of the first to visit Gujarat in the wake of the devastating earthquake and had personally provided relief to the earthquake victims.
• Inspired people with a realistic presentation of the hardships of blind children in a National Seminar on Eye Donation along with His Excellency Governor Surjeet Sing Barnala.
• As the representative of the rich cultural heritage of Andhra Pradesh, Honored celebrities of Andhra Pradesh in a literary and cultural evening along with Her Excellency Governor of Karnataka, Smt. Rama Devi.
• Dr.Chiranjeevi has made donations to the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund and Chief Minister Relief Fund whenever national calamities occur.
•  To serve the people of Andhra Pradesh in a larger way and to bring about a positive change and ensure social justice, Dr.Chiranjeevi launched his Political outfit the ‘Praja Rajyam Party’(PRP) on the 26th of August 2008 at Tirupathi. 
• Within a span of nine months, PRP had contested its first-ever General elections in 2009 and garnered over 70 lakh votes and 18 MLA seats.
• Dr.Chiranjeevi had observed the highest democratic values and traditions and played the role of constructive opposition in the truest sense of the word.
• Be it as an Actor, a Philanthropist or a People’s leader Dr.Chiranjeevi has always excelled and continues to excel in his chosen field and continues to touch millions of lives across India and the world.
• In  February 2011,  Dr.Chiranjeevi unconditionally merged PRP with the Indian National Congress Party, with the intention of achieving  the ideals of Social Justice from a larger platform.
• In April 2012, Dr.Chiranjeevi was nominated as a Member of Parliament Rajya Sabha. 
• On 28th October’2012, Dr. Chiranjeevi was inducted into the Central Cabinet as the Minister of State for Tourism with Independent Charge.
• As Tourism Minister, Chiranjeevi has taken several breakthrough initiatives to promote tourism and leverage India’s soft power. 
• In 2020, the humanitarian crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic was never witnessed in human history. Tens of millions of people became susceptible to extreme poverty and unemployment. 
• The situation prompted Mega Star Chiranjeevi known for championing social causes, into urgent action. Sensing the gravity of the situation, Chiranjeevi announced a voluntary closure of the film industry activities on March 15th 2020. He stopped his own shooting immediately. 
• On the same day, Mega Star Chiranjeevi who had always kept away from Social media, felt it was incumbent upon him to connect directly with his fans and fellow citizens through his Twitter handle to spread awareness about an impending crisis of unheard proportions. 
• Chiranjeevi realized that the livelihoods of over 15,000 daily wage film workers were under threat because of the uncertainty over the pandemic. To ensure that these daily wage workers did not starve or sleep hungry, he set up the Corona Crisis Charity (CCC) with the participation of scores of his Celeb colleagues from the Acting fraternity. Through CCC, Chiranjeevi arranged to provide door delivery of groceries to the daily wage film workers for 4 months. 
• Chiranjeevi undertook various Covid awareness campaigns to encourage Covid Appropriate Behavior among the people. #LetsKillTheVirus, # WeThe-Family, #WearMask #StaySafe, #CoronaOtamiTadhyam were some of the media campaigns, Chiranjeevi had carried out. 
• The second quarter of 2021 has seen one of the most devastating spells of the COVID-19 virus in India. The cases surged to hundreds of thousands per day and India was literally gasping for breath. On his part, Chiranjeevi initiated the setting up of 32 Oxygen Banks across as many districts of the Telugu states at his own cost and has made life-saving oxygen available to thousands of needy Covid 19 patients. 
• India began its vaccination program on 16th January 2021. But it was a humongous task to vaccinate a country of over 1.35 Billion population. Yet again Chiranjeevi initiated a mass Vaccination Program for Film workers, Film Artists & Film Journalists to partake in the massive vaccination program being carried out by the Central and State Governments to help reduce the burden if only by a whisker. 
• When he was invited to inaugurate a privately owned state-of-the-art Diagnostics center in Hyderabad, along with the Hon’ble Vice President of India in November ’21, Chiranjeevi appealed to the founders to provide subsidized diagnostic care to all the members of the 24 crafts of the film industry and their family members numbering about 50,000 (Fifty Thousand) Soon Chiranjeevi’s CCT (Chiranjeevi Charitable Trust) in association with Yoda Diagnostics issued Health Cards to all Film Fraternity to avail a 50 % subsidy on diagnostic care. 
• To recognize the commitment of about 2000 (Two Thousand Only) frequent blood donors who have donated blood over 20 times (a few dozens of them, over 50 times) at the Chiranjeevi Blood Bank, Chiranjeevi has at his own cost secured the lives of these two thousand donors and their families by presenting them free Life Insurance Policies. 
• Most recently Chiranjeevi has partnered with Star Cancer Centre to conduct free cancer screening camps across the Telugu States and spread awareness among the common public about the importance of early detection to prevent cancer. 

From extending financial assistance to numerous fans, senior industry colleagues, and needy persons of the society to standing by anyone and any cause that seeks his support, Chiranjeevi has emerged as a fine example of a Mega Star with a heart filled with compassion for fellow humans. 

In this manner, Chiranjeevi strives hard at every step of the way to care for and make a difference to the society and the large film industry fraternity that he is a part of.