ANR Centennial: Chiranjeevi Reflects on Past Conflict with Mohan Babu as He Receives National Award

The centennial celebrations of Akkineni Nageswara Rao were held grandly on Monday at Annapurna Studios in Hyderabad. The event was attended by numerous celebrities including Megastar Chiranjeevi, Amitabh Bachchan, Akkineni Nagarjuna, Ram Charan, and Naga Chaitanya. During the event, Chiranjeevi was honored with the ‘ANR National Award’. The award was presented to him by Amitabh Bachchan. Subsequently, Chiranjeevi reminisced about a past dispute with Mohan Babu during the Diamond Jubilee celebrations.

What Happened?

In 2007, during the 75th anniversary of the Telugu film industry, the Tollywood community celebrated the Diamond Jubilee event where it was decided to honor Megastar Chiru with a Legendary Award. Actor Mohan Babu made some sharp comments about this. He mentioned that some came to honor him as a celebrity, not as a legend, and suggested, “Write a book defining what a legend is and what a celebrity is and then give awards. Am I not a legend for being the first actor from the industry to serve in Rajya Sabha, for educating 25% of poor students for free, for acting in more than 500 films, and producing 45 films?”

What did Chiru say?

Reacting to Mohan Babu’s questioning, Chiranjeevi responded strongly. “There are Rama Rao, Raghavendra Rao, Bapu, Vishwanath, and Dasari Narayana Rao; they are the legends. Give the award to them. My peers like Balakrishna, Venkatesh, Nagarjuna, and I are of the same age. Don’t separate me from them by giving me this award. I’ve said before that I don’t want the Legendary Award. However, some objected when I was about to receive it. If I am deemed unworthy, I will not accept the award. I will surrender it in a box and will only take it when I am deemed worthy. By the time of the 100-year celebrations, if I become a legend along with Balakrishna, Venkatesh, Nagarjuna, Pawan Kalyan, and Mahesh Babu, I will accept it. Until then, I bury that award,” he stated during the Diamond Jubilee celebration.

What did Chiru say at the ANR event?

At the prestigious ANR National Award ceremony, Megastar Chiranjeevi received the award. Recalling the Diamond Jubilee event, he expressed, “If I consider the Telugu film industry my home, then the opportunity to win came in 2007. I was very happy that everyone agreed to honor me with the Legendary Award. However, due to some adversities, I felt it was not the right time to accept it. I decided to keep the award in a box until I felt worthy. Today, receiving the great ANR award, particularly from Amitabh Bachchan and with my friend Nagarjuna welcoming me wholeheartedly, I feel like I have truly won at home.”

‘I was shivering at those words’

Chiranjeevi made interesting remarks about Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan, who presented the award. He noted that whenever something good happens or he receives an award, the first congratulations come from Amitabh. Recalling the Padma Vibhushan award, Chiranjeevi mentioned, “When I received the Padma Vibhushan, Amitabh called me the ‘King of Indian Cinema,’ which made me shiver. But it filled my heart with immense joy. When I approached him for the role of my mentor in the movie ‘Sye Raa,’ he immediately agreed without considering formalities (remuneration), saying, ‘No need for that… you are my friend.’”