Happy birthday Chiranjeevi: Five lesser-known facts about megastar

Chiranjeevi, the megastar of Indian cinema is celebrating his 66th birthday on August 22. The king of Tollywood, Chiranjeevi, in his career that has been spanning over four decades has acted in movies of multifarious genres, and he gained the name Megastar for his spectacular performances in commercial mass masala flicks. 

Even though Chiranjeevi's life is an open book, there are certain things in his career even his fans may not be aware of. 

International Business Times presents you with the list of five lesser-known facts about the Tollywood megastar.

Chiranjeevi was invited to the Oscars

In 1987, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) invited Chinranjeevi for the Oscars award ceremony. It should be noted that Chiranjeevi was the first South Indian actor to achieve this feat. 

When India Today described 'Chiranjeevi bigger than Bachchan'

In the 1980s and early 1990s, Amitabh Bachchan was the uncrowned King of the Indian film industry, and his fan following across the nation was unmatchable. In 1992, Chiranjeevi's film  Gharana Mogudu took the box office to a storm and grossed over Rs 10 crore. In the same year, India Today, in one of their features described Chiranjeevi, 'bigger than Bachchan.' 

Remuneration of over one crore in 1992

For acting in the 1992 movie Aapadbandhavudu directed by K Viswanath, Chiranjeevi was paid a remuneration of Rs 1.25 crore. It was for the first time that a Telugu actor has been paid such a huge amount for acting in a movie, and at the same time, Amitabh Bachchan, the biggest brand in Bollywood was charging Rs 1 crore per film. 

Chiranjeevi's films were dubbed to English

Chiranjeevi's 1990 film Kodama Simham was dubbed and released in English, a feat that was very rare to Indian movies. The English version of this movie was named Hunters of the Indian treasure. Chiranjeevi's other films, Pasivadi Pranam and Swayamkrushi were dubbed and released in Russian as well during those days. 

The Hollywood movie signed by Chinranjeevi

In 1999, Chiranjeevi signed a Hollywood movie named The Return of the Thief of Baghdad. However, the project was shelved for unknown reasons.