Boss is truly back!

The build up to the first look of Chiranjeevi’s 150th film, ‘Khaidi No 150,’ has been a PR achievement for Ram Charan who is producing the feature along with Lyca Productions. With Varun Tej, Sai Dharam Tej and Allu Aravind setting the tempo in a series of videos for the first look on Chiru’s birthday on Monday, mega fans couldn’t have asked for more. Turns out, the industry wallahs too are mighty excited about the megastar’s comeback.

‘Dialogue King’ Sai Kumar is one among them. “All his fans remember me because I help him accomplish his challenge in ‘Challenge’ film,” he exults, pointing out that he had a word with Annayya (as Sai fondly calls Chiru) and director VV Vinayak to have him even in a tiniest role in the film. “After all its Annayya’s milestone film and who wouldn’t want to be a part of it.”

Sai shares a special connection with the megastar. “I dubbed for him for the Tamil version of ‘Gangleader.’ I consider it as a feather in my cap. The film was a big hit in Tamil Nadu,” he recalls fondly, “He has been very encouraging as far as my career was considered. He promoted ‘Police Story,’ helping it to amass good numbers in the first few days. He even has been extremely supportive of my son Aadi.”

Before starting his own political outfit Praja Rajyam in 2008, Chiranjeevi has ruled Tollywood for more than 22 years and was the face of Telugu cinema at the national level. Some critics point out that his position is still vacant and current stars like Pawan Kalyan and Mahesh Babu are yet to occupy Chiru’s chair despite their popularity and gazillions of fans.

But will Chiru command the same following that he used to, during his prime? Filmmaker Thammareddy Bharadwaj, who has worked with the actor for films like ‘Kothala Raayudu’ and ‘Mogudu Kavaaali,’ observes, “Definitely he will attract the same fan following if not more. It’s been eight years since he’s been missing from the silver screen and his comeback has generated enormous buzz. His family has seven heroes and they have grown because of his charisma and some even managed to attain their own fan base. They will all add to his film.

“Earlier there was no caste equation but it plays a major role now. There are also political equations with him. All said and done, people still love him as a star despite his debacle in politics.” Will Telangana people, who felt betrayed by his United Andhra stance warm up to him like the way they used to earlier? “Politics is different from films, so obviously they would be happy to see him back on screen,” Bharadwaj adds.

For ‘Gabbar Singh’ director Harish Shankar, who became a fan of Chiru because of his cousin S Srinivas, the actor is a complete package. “He is the only superstar after Amitabh Bachchan who goes about comedy with the right timing,” he declares, adding, “He made my day when he said that he would like to work with me at the audio launch of my film ‘Subramanyam For Sale last year. I’m game for it. I don’t know whether it would be his 151st, 152nd or 153rd but I would definitely work with him. My journey would be incomplete if I don’t.”

Harish is particularly gung-ho about the actor’s 150th. “When I rang Vinayak to convey my best wishes before the start of the film, he shared a couple of scenes with him. I was super excited to hear them. Trust me it’s going to have a lot of entertainment in it.” For actor Nandu, who played a key role in the box-office smash ‘#Pellichoopulu’, Chiru has been an inspiration and is continuing to do so. “I remember mimicking ‘Chantabbayi’ scenes to win my friends appreciation. Chiranjeevi has influenced me to take up acting.

When I look back at ‘Challenge’ and ‘Abhilasha,’ I’m like, ‘Oh man, this is why he became such a big star.’” But didn’t he play it safe by choosing to remake a hit film? “He could have starred in an original screenplay, but it’s his call. ‘Kaththi’ is a very good film and I’m sure the remake will cross Rs 100 crore,” Thammareddy opines.

Like Nandu, who is ready to take a break from his shooting schedule to watch megastar’s comeback on the day it releases with his gang of friends, Sai Kumar too is keen on watching the action on the big screen. “I generally prefer to watch films in my home theatre but I watched ‘Kabali’ in a theatre and would be the doing the same with Annayya’s film. Me and Aadi would be the first people in the theatre,” Sai insists.