Veteran actor Chiranjeevi was honoured with the Indian Film Personality of the Year 2022 award at the closing ceremony of the 53rd International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa on Monday.
While receiving the award at IFFI, Chiranjeevi expressed gratitude to his parents and to the Telugu film industry. “I will always be grateful to my parents who gave birth to me as Konidela Siva Sankara Vara Prasad and to the Telugu film industry which has given rebirth to me as Chiranjeevi. I am indebted for my lifetime to this industry,” said the Padma Bhushan awardee.
The 67-year-old actor thanked his fans for accepting him as an actor upon his return from active politics, to which he dedicated 10 years of his life.
“The love and affection bestowed on me is so great. I am here in the industry for more than 45 years. Out of these I have missed one decade to politics. When I came back to the film industry, I was skeptical about how people would receive me. But the amount of love and affection from my fans never changed. My position in their hearts was intact. I am promising that I will never leave you again, I will be here with you,” he said.
In an illustrious film career spanning more than four decades, Chiranjeevi starred in more than 150 feature films in Telugu, as well as some films in Hindi, Tamil and Kannada.
“I bow my head and thank each and every one of you. If anybody has the idea of coming to the cinema industry, please do come. This is a corruption-less profession, you will have no guilt. If you have talent, you can project it, and you will grow sky-high,” Chiranjeevi said.
