Chiranjeevi honoured at IFFI, says he can never quit acting, ‘I’m a slave to the love of my fans’

Actor Chiranjeevi was honoured with the Indian Film Personality of the Year award at the 53rd International Film Festival of India (IFFI). Speaking at the closing ceremony of the festival after receiving his award, Chiranjeevi said that he can never quit acting and would continue acting all his life because he’s a slave to the love of Telugu cinema fans.

Chiranjeevi also expressed his gratitude to the Telugu film industry and his fans for embracing him even after he took a break from acting for a decade. “I thank IFFI and the government of India for giving me this wonderful award and great honour. Few recognitions are special, and this award is one such. I was born into a middle-class family, to humble parents. My fame, name, charisma, all privileges, the invaluable love and affection of my fans and everything, I owe everything to the film industry. I was born as Konidela Siva Shankara Vara Prasad to my parents and I was re-born as Chiranjeevi in the film industry,” he said in his speech.

He added that despite taking a break from acting to focus on politics for a decade, the love of his fans has been intact. “I have been in the film industry for 45 years. Out of these four and half decades, I spent a decade in politics. For some reason, I had to return to the film industry. At that time, I was skeptical about how people would receive me. (I wondered) will they shower the same kind of love and affection on me. I was having my doubts because the generation has changed. The amount of love and affection and my position in their hearts remained intact, in fact, they have doubled to my surprise. That’s the bonding I have with my fans. I promise my fans that I will never (again) leave the film industry,” he said.’

“I will continue acting all my life. I can never quit acting because I’m a slave to the love of Telugu cinema fans,” he added.

Last seen on screen in Telugu film Godfather, Chiranjeevi currently awaits the release of upcoming film Waltair Veerayya.