Nijam with Smita: Chiranjeevi picks the top 5 favourite films from his career in order of preference

Chiranjeevi is entering into his 45th year of filmdom in 2023 with a career spanning a little over 150 films. After a lull phase in his second innings, he bounced back with a bang through director Bobby Kolli’s action entertainer Waltair Veerayya this Sankranthi. He made an appearance in OTT platform SonyLIV’s latest talk show Nijam with Smita for its premiere episode recently.

During the interview, the host and musician Smita gave Chiranjeevi a list of five films that he had to rank in order of his preference. The films that the former had included were Khaidi, Rudraveena, Gharana Mogudu, Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari and Gang Leader. Though it wasn’t an easy task to pick his favourites among the iconic films, here’s how Chiranjeevi ranked them.

1. Khaidi
2. Gang Leader
3. Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari (referring to the film as a classic)
4. Rudraveena
5. Gharana Mogudu

While Khaidi, that also starred Madhavi and Sumalatha, was a film that made Chiranjeevi a star, director K Balachander’s Rudraveena gave the veteran a lot of respect among the fraternity and viewers alike. Gang Leader, directed by Vijaya Bapineedu, helped Chiranjeevi reinvent himself in the 1990s, while K Raghavendra Rao’s Gharana Mogudu remains a fan-favourite even today.

Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari, in which Chiranjeevi co-starred Sridevi, gained cult status over the years as well. As a homage to Khaidi, the star titled his comeback film Khaidi No 150, that emerged successful at the box office. The aforementioned episode on Nijam with Smita, starring Chiranjeevi, is titled Upward Mobility. Smita has received praise from several corners for her OTT debut.