As one drives through the serpentine Road No 46 in the upmarket Jubilee Hills in Hyderabad, a swanky corporate structure standing at the top of the street brings one to a natural halt, surrounded as it is by an eager but patient crowd waiting for “the star” to smile upon them.

The scene instantly reminds one of a film shoot. In fact, much like a film set, the quintessential 21st century office came up in just 40 days. But what is unfolding inside is not exactly filmi. Though the central character remains a film star — Chiranjeevi, who spent three decades in Tollywood — the script being drafted is political and the hero and his lieutenants believe it is certain to change the politics of Andhra Pradesh.

A pin-up board in one of the rooms has clippings from various newspapers of the day. One report describes how he lost his cool when fans blocked his way, another links the outburst to his unhappiness at the insignificant number of seasoned leaders joining his party. Yet another clipping from a vernacular reports that fans want him to hit the road sooner than later.

In the conference hall, a sizeable gathering awaits the leader’s return from lunch. One of them happens to be a technocrat from Harvard who wants to sell software to the new party.

The same software, the technocrat tells an NRI in the Chiru camp,was sold to Barack Obama for conducting a socio-economic survey in the US. He explains how it would be useful to Chiranjeevi’s Praja Rajyam.

Nearby, as we chit chat in the board room sipping hot coffee, the man of the moment — Chiranjeevi — arrives to engage us in a freewheeling conversation for the next 45 minutes.

Understandably, to most questions, he tries to relate his replies to his experience in the film world. “I am pretty relaxed,’’ he says in his opening remarks on how he feels in his new role as a political leader.

While in the film industry he had to depend on his own resources, now he is more comfortable because there are quite a few friends who share his ideology and thoughts and are willing to hone them into policy programmes that can be implemented. “They provide me a lot of cushion and with the support I am getting from the people, I am confident of reaching the goal,” he avers.

The actor-turned-politician does not hesitate to concede that the decision to switch roles was a long drawn out process. Did he spend sleepless nights? “Not exactly. But for months I used to get up early in the morning and spend time alone in my room wondering how to respond to suggestions that I should enter politics,” he recalls.

Many told him that the people of the state gave him all that anyone could aspire for as an actor and it was time he repaid the debt.

He goes on: “There are many who have charisma but how many will receive the encouragement that I have to go forward?” After all, even if he had continued in films, he would have done a couple more movies before deciding to call it a day. But if he did that he would have wasted a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take up a bigger cause, more so because he believes he has the capacity to change lives for the better. That, finally, persuaded him to take the plunge.

But what about his on-screen and off-screen image? Having played characters that reflected a lot of aggression, what Chiranjeevi has shown in the month since he launched his party is a goody-goody and soft side. But he feels it is a perfectly okay approach. “I don’t think you need to be necessarily aggressive to connect to the people. On the contrary, I believe that if you show intensity in what you say, you will be able to strike a chord in their hearts.” From the angry hero in films, will the state now see an angry young politician (at 52, he is young by Indian standards) who is out to change society? He laughs heartily. “I may not portray myself as an angry politician but I am sure people will appreciate my honesty and commitment to change the way politics is pursued,” emphasising that curbing corruption and ensuring that a major chunk of the benefits go to the identified beneficiaries would be his top priority.

The Praja Rajyam founder also argues that there is nothing wrong when he keeps saying that he would try to do the same things that are being done now but in a different manner.

“Take the case of social welfare and girls hostels.

We have a lot of them even now, but the inmates suffer from lack of dining facility, toilets and a proper place to sleep.We may not be able to provide them dining tables but we can certainly give them economical cement platforms to have their food. Likewise, ensuring a mattress to sleep is not difficult. All that is required is sincerity in approach. You don’t have to necessarily change the system. If the leader sets an example, the rest will follow in great measure,” he explains.

Unconsciously, he again goes back to his past world to relate how he changed the way a hero performs dance sequences. The number of songs in a movie remained the same as before even after he joined films, but what he did do was to bring about a distinct change in the way they were played out to the audiences and they became a runaway trend-setter.

Chiranjeevi has no doubt that his lack of experience in politics will not work against him. On the contrary, it may be an advantage.

Take the case of Ram Gopal Verma, who was looked down upon as a rookie when he first wanted to direct a film or a Sekhar Kammula, an NRI who returned to the country and got into film-making, he points out and says, “They had never worked with anybody. But when they did their first movies, they were lapped up by people who liked their refreshingly fresh approach”.

Though he is only a month-old as a politician Chiranjeevi says he has stopped thinking about his past. His thoughts are not going back to the sets, trolleys and the frequent shouts of lights, action...camera… from the director.He was used to working 18 hours a day while making films and, therefore, does not find it difficult to spend 12 to 14 hours in the party office handling various tasks — meeting newcomers, discussing policies with the think-tank (they are still taking shape) and catching up with the media.

Comparisons may not always be right but Chiranjeevi has to live with the manner in which he is compared with the Telugu film giant, NT Rama Rao, who launched the Telugu Desam 25 years ago and changed the course of politics in the state.

“N T Rama Rao was, no doubt, a strongwilled person but when it comes to determination I am no less,” he says recalling that even when NTR launched Telugu Desam, support did not come overnight. At that time, people thought they had no option but to live under a Congress regime. But when the alternative came along, they looked at it and soon it turned into a groundswell of support. Likewise, his heart tells him that people are once again looking for a change from the two principal parties — ruling Congress and Telugu Desam.

Youth have, of course, attended his maiden meeting in Tirupati in large numbers and been coming to him on a daily basis.

“Others like women or farmers may not express themselves the same way. But, I am sure they too would lend support once I hit the road later this month,” he says in a voice oozing confidence, before signing off to meet others waiting for him.

Jeevitha Rajshekar pleaded to public not to vote for Chiranjeevi, by doing so give value to your lives and for your children future. I have personal rapport with Chiru thats reason I am saying this to you all. He is unfit in politcs, politician should be in reach to people but Chiru is not sure when he will be in India and when he will fly to US. Chiru is not Andari Vaadu but he is Andani Vaadu. If he is made CM, then he will run away to US when people are in problems. Plight of leaders those have walked into PRP from various parties say that only useless and waster leaders are migrating into P R P and their position is pitty. As proverb says ' Rajuni Chusee Mogudini Vadilesi Poyinatu Unde', after they join they would learn a big lesson in P R P. Rajshekar finally said that he would give Zero marks to Chiru as politician, he corrected his words and said that he is saying only talk in public and not to hurt anybody.

Megastar Chiranjeevi has thrashed many a villain in reel life, but he will be adopting a non-confrontationist Gandhigiri style in his political life. In fact, Chiranjeevi had played a role in popularising Gandhigiri in the state through his film Shankar Dada Zindabad, a remake of the popular Munnabhai MBBS.

It is known that the Praja Rajyam chief has been going through books of self-help gurus such as Stephen R. Covey, Norman Vincent Peale and Dale Carnegie to teach his party workers a non-confrontationist problem-solving approach in political matters. Even if the Praja Rajyam leaders come under attack from political rivals, the party would exercise utmost restraint while responding.

"Chiranjeevi wants to establish moral standards in the political system," said the Praja Rajyam spokesperson, Mr Parakala Prabhakar. The rule is applicable to everyone and this was impressed upon Rayalaseema strongman Bhuma Nagi Reddy.

"Even Tammineni Sitaram was given a lecture on non violence when he joined," said a close aide of Chiranjeevi. Chiranjeevi will not wear Khadi to advertise his Gandhism and will continue to don his customary white shirt and black trousers. "You won’t find any change in my attire. I want to go to the public with my normal dress," Chiranjeevi told this correspondent.

The Praja Rayjam party chief Chiranjeevi is slowly getting entangled in the complexities of taking a stand on Telangana. Chiranjeevi had earlier decided to adopt a soft pro-Telangana approach but is now reconsidering it over fears that it could have an adverse effect in the Andhra region. The actor-turned-politician is now using the tactic adopted by the Telugu Desam chief, Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu. Now, Chiranjeevi will announce his party’s policy on Telangana only after he completes his proposed state-wide tour. Before arriving at any conclusion, the PR chief reportedly wants to elicit the opinion of the people during his tour.

This is a tactic that Mr Naidu has successfully adopted. Despite the byelections, Mr Devender Goud quitting the party and intense pressure on him, the TD chief has managed to put off taking a decision on statehood. There are two different streams of thought in Prajya Rajyam on the issue. Andhra leaders say that since the party enjoys much influence in the coastal region, favouring bifurcation of the state may ruin its prospects in Andhra.

The Telangana leaders see the problem differently. “Though Chiranjeevi has considerable fan following in Telangana, the response to the PR is very poor in the region. A clear-cut decision in support of statehood will increase its prospects in the region,” said a Telangana leader. The PR chief has been discussing the issue for the past four days with leaders like Mr Kotagiri Vidydhara Rao, Mr Bhuma Nagi Reddy and Ms Shobha Nagi Reddy.

Ms Shobha Nagi Reddy said that Chiranjeevi had been considering the issue in a positive manner.

According to the sources, the PR leadership will frame its statement in such a manner that there will not be any negative effect in Andhra. This is apart from the special package for Telangana, that Chiranjeevi had offered while speaking to this newspaper. “We won’t oppose statehood for Telangana if the Centre decides to introduce a bill in Parliament,” said a senior leader of the party. “But we will not take any initiative for bifurcation. This will be our party stand,” he said.

We had tears in our eyes," reveals Ram Charan Tej, recalling the poignant moment he shared with his father-actor Chiranjeevi after enacting a scene together for his upcoming film.

The actor wistfully recalls that Chiru was reluctant to leave the set and was sitting quietly in a chair red-eyed. "I thought we could do a couple of films together but dad surprised us with his decision to join politics," he says as an afterthought.

Entrepreneur-turned-actor
Interestingly, the son of Chiranjeevi initially aspired to be an entrepreneur but fate had other plans for him and made him an actor. "I never realised that a golden opportunity was lying at my door and I was scouting for it at other places. One day I broached the idea of taking up acting and dad just agreed," disclosed Charan who honed his acting and dancing skills in London. He debuted with Chirutha and though it got a big response, it was labelled as a demo of the rookie. "Actually that was what we intended to dish out and we were satisfied with the final outcome," reasons the actor, who admires director Puri Jagannath for showcasing his varied talents.

The father-son jodi
"I was always fascinated by the Amitabh-Abhishek jodi and I enjoyed watching them together. Similarly, I dreamt of doing at least a few films with my dad but now I think it may not be possible," he rues. He had to pester his reluctant father for a special appearance in his next periodic film. "Finally, he agreed to do one scene and a song. Wrapping up that scene was the most touching moment of my life," says Tej.

He also brands Chiru as his best critic and watches the movies of the famed dancer to fine-tune his bop. "Undoubtedly, he is graceful," he opines.

Charan admits that he has matured with time and has learned to take the highs and lows of life in his stride. He says, "I have realised that politics is a different ball game altogether. My father is sensitive and he cannot see anybody suffer.I feel that it is his empathy that differentiates him from regular politicians.”On his much-awaited epic "It's a reincarnation plot and the period is about 400 years ago.

The film travels from past to present but the mainstay is an enchanting love story," reveals the actor, who claims that it was challenging to portray the demanding role. "At times we spend 3 to 4 hours for just one shot," reveals Charan who will unveil his new look in this periodic epic. Later, he will be joining hands with promising director Bhaskar, who is known for family entertainers, for another film. "We had a discussion and Bhaskar also felt the need to try a new genre," announces Ram, who seems to prefer variety.

On his personal life
"At times, I do feel I am missing out on regular life but I freak out on foreign locales and I also love shopping," informs the new-age star who surprisingly feels stressed when he is not on the sets. "Probably, work is my stress-buster. Acting has become a paid holiday for me," says the young man for whom family is sacrosanct and dedicates all his leisure time to spend quality time at home.

The Praja Rajyam chief Chiranjeevi’s statement of making a Dalit as the Chief Minister if his party was voted to power has not gone down well with his fans. The annoyed fans, led by several delegations, called on Chiranjeevi on Tuesday and made it clear that they want to see him as the Chief Minister and “none”.

They told him that such statements could send wrong signals to the party activists which comprises mostly of fans. Realising the gravity of the situation, the Chiranjeevi camp jumped into action to set things right.
The actor-turned-politician met senior leaders to take stock of the situation. He asked the party spokesperson, Dr Mitra, to “clear” the clouds over his statement. Party leaders found themselves in a piquant situation as they could comment against Chiranjeevi’s stand and at the same time could not pacify the furious fans.

With film actor Chiranjeevi's camp worried at the reported denial of the state police to allocate additional personnel to the Prajarajyam chief, his close aides are training thousands of young men across the state to get them accustomed to techniques of crowd controlling and policing during his proposed political tour across the state.

At present, the star's younger brother Pavan Kalyan is overseeing all security issues. Nearly 150 ‘commandos' sporting black uniforms are under his direct supervision for guarding the megastar and his family. Though the film actor has been allotted two personal gunmen for round-the-clock security by the state government, ex-cops in in the actor's camp feel that the actor needs more protection. Nagendra Babu's aides have also started recruiting well-built young men from existing private security agencies for imparting necessary training to upgrade them as personal bodyguards to the megastar.

Sources said that J S Rao, a ticket aspirant from Nalgonda and said to be close to Allu Aravind, is handling the task. Rao, a body builder by profession, has been instrumental in imparting training to these select young men at an apartment complex under his custody in Filmnagar.

At least 350 of them are undergoing a tough training regime from 5.30 am, learning judo and karate. They are also being trained in mob dispersion and rapid action skills to rescue the megastar to safety, in case die-hard fans go on a rampage. Incidentally, most of these young men from Rayalaseema.

Meanwhile, it is reliably learnt that another 3,000 non-Telugu speaking people are also being trained by individual agencies in the neighbouring state away from public glare and under the direct supervision of a member of the Chiranjeevi family.

If you think that you have it in you to make it to the 'Praja Rajyam' party established by Megastar Chiranjeevi then here are the numbers that you need to be prepared with when it comes to investment. We are talking about the money and according to our reliable sources, these are the numbers for the game.

There is news that PRP is expecting his party members to give Rs 4 crores just for the memberships and given the 293 assembly seats, the amount touches Rs 1172 crores. Apart from that, there are 40 seats for parliament and for this the investment required is Rs 10 crores which takes the total number to Rs 400 crores.

All in all, the total amount is expected to be around Rs 1600 crores and given the size of it, 'Praja Rajyam' is more like a national level party looking at its funds. However, the truth remains that if aspiring members are to put up with such type of investment then it is obvious that they would look at recovery from the public only once they get to power. While Chiru has been looking at a service oriented party, such incidents give clear picture about the essence of what is going to be the future of his 'Praja Rajyam' too.

Over 80 per cent of Prajarajyam members will be non-politicians and only 10-20 per cent of the partymen will be existing politicians and political workers. By implication then, 80 per cent of the tickets to be given by the party in the forthcoming elections will be to “freshmen”.

In an exclusive chat with TOI on Sunday morning —the first with any publication after the Tirupati meeting —party president Chiranjeevi said that he was seeking a paradigm shift in the politics of Andhra Pradesh and that is why his emphasis would be on fresh blood. “When I see legislators and leaders hurling abuses and heaping scorn on each other in the Assembly and outside I get disgusted. And in this I think I reflect the views of the majority of the denizens of AP,” Chiranjeevi said. “I do not want to conduct my political affairs in this fashion. I want to give respect to politics,” he added.

Chiranjeevi declared that his party is going to be a social justice party which will usher in a new order where the talented but downtrodden people who are “not getting a chance” in the existing scheme of things will be able to showcase their potential and realise them.” I have met thousands of people after my Tirupati meeting and they are displeased with the present scenario. Especially upset are the youth,” said Chiranjeevi. “These youth and the downtrodden people would be able to see a ‘ray of hope’ in Prajarajyam,” the megastar said, sitting across a round table at a small conference room in his party headquarters even as he nursed a bad cold. “I am impressed with the concept of gram swarajya and the aim of our party will be to create livelihood for people and stop this enmasse migration to the cities,” the Prajarajyam party president said. “We will certainly be pro-poor and these are not mere words. We will strive to reduce the gap between the poor and the rich and will work so that everyone has access to education and health,” he said.

The actor would embark on his much talked about “roadshow” pretty soon and this will be a yatra that will take him to all the three regions of the state. It is going to be a continuous yatra by road, with only some small breaks that might be required to address some urgent matters elsewhere, the neo-politician said.
Before that there would be a simultaneous “flag hoisting’ ceremony in each district of the state. “This will be a signal of solidarity of the cadres of the party across the state, a move that will bring in a sense of oneness and unity of purpose,” the actor said.

Large scale formal enrolment into the party will soon begin and aspirants would have to fill up a form for the purpose. The applications will have to be cleared by district committee of the party. This lengthy procedure is being introduced to keep track of the kind of people entering Prajarajyam. Party members would be of two kinds: permanent and active members. “The active members would be given tasks to do for the party,” Chiranjeevi said.

On the issue of alliances with like-minded political parties at the national level, Chiranjeevi said that no party had approached him for a tie-up. He seemed to indicate that he was yet to give serious thought to a pre-election national alliance. But he was willing to tie-up— post elections —with any secular party whose “ideas are close to our ideas.” He emphasized that Prajarajyam would strive to carry along all communities —Hindus, Muslims and Christians.

Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy has said that he does not know much about actor Chiranjeevi.

Dr. Reddy’s admission came during a television show on ‘women’s empowerment’ organised by a regional channel on Sunday.

Fielding questions, Dr. Reddy said that no leader should think that if he is prosperous that is enough. “In politics there should not be use-and-throw policy,” he said and added that under some circumstances leaders should be in a position to raise funds to take up welfare programmes.

Asked if Mr. Chiranjeevi, who recently launched Praja Rajyam, lacked such qualities, Dr. Reddy remarked that the actor’s close confidantes should be able to tell about him. “I have little knowledge about the actor,” he added. Further questioned if Mr. Chiranjeevi could also overcome the criticism he is facing like late N. T. Rama Rao, Dr. Reddy said voters would take all issues into consideration and give their final verdict.

The Chief Minister once again reiterated that politics was not an easy field.

Anyone who wants to succeed in politics should have certain qualities.

He said credibility, fulfilling promises, helping those in distress and the confidence to over come hurdles are some of the qualities of a good politician.

Refusing to be drawn into a public debate on the issue of development in the state, Prajarajyam supremo Chiranjeevi said he could not afford to spare time for public debates at this juncture.

Talking to the media at the party office on Monday, he said he had more pressing work of the party than getting locked up in public debates on one issue or the other. The megastar was reacting to a challenge thrown by information minister Anam Ramnarayan Reddy to him for an open public debate on the welfare measures initiated by chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy. On Monday, he presented several leaders from Krishna, Prakasam and Nalgonda districts to the media as having joined hands with him.

Referring to the debate challenge, he said he was busy with arrangements to be made for his Meet-the-People tour, discussions on various issues with people etc. "These types of debates are a waste of time. I am not free now to indulge in the luxury of engaging in discussions in public," he said.

No doubt, West Godavari district has come be viewed as the bastion of Chiranjeevi as it being the birthplace of the actor. Reports said that in order put a checkmate to the secure situation for Praja Rajyam Party, actors Nandamuri Balakrishna and NTR are likely to undertake whirlwind tour of the district in the coming weeks, after the proposed Yuva Garjana at Guntur. Reports said the newly elected MAA President and staunch TDP functionary will oversee the arrangements for their meetings. Murali Mohan told the media that the dates had not been confirmed yet and that he would come out with full details in the coming days.

Praja Rajyam chief Chiranjeevi has said that if his party came to power he wouldn’t mind making way for a Dalit chief minister if the popular demand was such. On Telangana statehood, Chiranjeevi offered a special package to develop the region. “If people wish for a Dalit chief minister, I will definitely obey their wish and remain as party president,” said the megastar-turned-politician in an exclusive interview to this newspaper at the PR headquarters, where for the first time he committed himself on the Telangana issue. “But it is for the people to decide.”

The megastar said that he would give more Assembly tickets to backward classes than the Congress and the TD. “My father may be OC but my mother is BC,” he said. “She is from Balija community in Nellore district. I swear I will work for the uplift of the downtrodden people.” Chiranjeevi said he saw the Telangana issue as a “two-dimensional” problem. One involved the self-respect of the people of the region and the other uneven development.

“So, we will deal this issue with utmost care,” he said. “We will bring a special package to develop Telangana on par with other regions. Alongside, we will thoroughly examine the separate statehood issue. If people of Telangana feel that separation is only the solution, we won’t put up any hurdles.” Chiranjeevi added that the party’s policies on issues like Telangana and categorisation of scheduled castes would be revealed only in the election manifesto of the 2009 polls.

He, however, was not ready to reveal the names of the intellectuals with whom he had been holding discussions to formulate policies on these issues. When asked why his party had not evoked much response in Telangana despite his sympathetic stance towards the region, Chiranjeevi retorted: “The criteria is not whether seasoned politicians from other parties have joined. So many people from Telangana pledged their support to Praja Rajyam. Hordes of doctors, lawyers and other professionals have joined. What more do you want?”

He also rebuffed the charge that he had been admitting tainted people despite making proclamations against corruption, and emphasised that there was no place for such persons in his party. When reminded of the factionist past of Mr Bhuma Nagi Reddy and the corruption allegations on the former IAS officer, Mr T. Chandrasekhar, Chiranjeevi said none of these charges had been proved. “We will not give Assembly tickets to corrupt babus, faction leaders and criminals if the charges against them are proved,” he said.

Chiranjeevi made light of the allegation that his party was dominated by his family. “If people accept them, my actor brothers may also take the political plunge in future as they also enjoy much popularity” he said. Regarding his producer brother-in-law, Mr Allu Aravind, the actor said that the former had been a facilitator between Praja Rajyam leaders and fans before the launch of the party. “Now his role is over,” said Chiranjeevi.