Megastar Chiranjeevi, who is gearing up for the release of Vishwambhara, recently sat down for a chat with Rajeev Masand for Aha’s special fireside chat at his South Indian Film Festival. During the interview, the Bhola Shankar actor revealed how he once felt insulted by the representation of South cinema in the Indian film industry. Chiranjeevi narrated an incident that happened when he was invited to a film festival organized at the national level.
He said it was a “high-tea event” and he saw pictures of veteran actors like Raj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar, Amitabh Bachchan and others. However, from South cinema, he got to see only the pictures of Kannada star Rajkumar and Tamil actor MGR.
Chiranjeevi expressed disappointment, saying, “I felt bad that the pictures of our own NT Rama Rao garu and Akkineni Nageswara Rao garu and even Sivaji Ganesan sir were not there.”
The Indra actor said, “I was angry and humiliated. In fact, I did films like Pratibha and Aaj Ka Gundaraj to prove the potential of South cinema.”
Talking about the rise of the Telugu film industry, Chiranjeevi praised SS Rajamouli and held him responsible for putting him on the global map. The actor said, “Telugu cinema has reached sky-high heights and I would give credit to SS Rajamouli for this. He has taken Telugu cinema to the international level. He has brought all the films under one roof of Indian cinema.”
Chiranjeevi also credited Prashanth Neel, Rishabh Shetty, Sukumar, Atlee and many others for the success of South Indian cinema.
On the work front, Chiranjeevi is awaiting the release of Vishwambhara on January 10, 20205. The film will also star Trisha Krishnan, Meenakshi Choudhary and others in lead roles. Meanwhile, Oscar-winning composer MM Keeravani has joined the Vishwambhara team as music composer.
Chiranjeevi’s film will reportedly clash with Ajit Kumar’s Good Bad Ugly and Ravi Teja’s RT 75 in theaters during Pongal.
Also read: Chiranjeevi’s Vishwambhara: Makers release first look of megastar who emerges like a legend in his new fiery avatar
