Megastar Chiranjeevi is undeniably one of the greatest actors of Indian cinema. Apart from his supreme acting and dashing looks, the actor is also known for his exceptional dance skills. While Chiranjeevi himself is an inspiration for many actors, he revealed that he took inspiration from multiple senior actors to excel in multiple aspects for acing his acting game. Chiranjeevi is one of the advisory board members of the inaugural World Audio Visual Entertainment Summit (WAVES), which started in Mumbai on Thursday. As part of the event, he participated in a special panel discussion along with other actors including Rajinikanth, Hema Malini, Mohanlal, and Mithun Chakraborty. Bollywood star Akshay Kumar moderated the panel discussion.

Searching for the ‘X factor’

Speaking during the discussion, Chiru, as he is fondly called by his fans, shared how he developed passion towards acting right from childhood. The actor said that during his childhood days, he used to entertain his friends and family members with dance. Their encouragement further fuelled his interest in dance and acting. “Due to my inclination towards acting, I moved to Chennai. But there were already half a dozen superstars in the Telugu film industry back then. The likes of NTR garu, ANR garu, Krishna garu, and Shobhan Babu garu. So, I kept asking myself what is the ‘X factor’ I could bring to become a star. I used to work hard to hit that bullseye,” he explained.

 

Mithun Da inspired me to be natural

The Waltair Veerayya star went on to add that senior actors like Amitabh Bachchan, Kamal Haasan, and Mithun Chakraborty inspired him to excel in acting. They inspired him to reach stardom. “In 1977, when I was studying at the film institute, I watched Mithun Da’s Mrigayaa, a film for which he won a National Award. His performance was so natural and inspiring. After watching him, I decided to not put any makeup on my face and make people relate to me as a guy next door. I was also inspired by Amitabhji’s daring stunts in Sholay, which made me do stunts on my own. Kamal Haasan was my inspiration in dance,” added the actor.

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