HBD Ram Charan: From Megastar’s son to pan-Indian actor

Ram Charan came into the industry with a lot of baggage attached to him. There was a lot of pressure on him to deliver, being the son of Megastar Chiranjeevi, a man of the masses.

Having made his debut in 2007 with Chirutha, Charan managed to impress his father’s fans and general audiences alike but really made an impact with his second film, Magadheera, where he collaborated with director SS Rajamouli for the first time. With his very second movie, Ram Charan showed a wide range of emotions in the film, cementing himself as an actor with great potential. There were a lot of hopes on Ram Charan after the blockbuster success of Magadheera, which went to become an industry hit.

However, the actor went through a down phase, with his immediate film, Orange turning out to be a disaster at the box office. While his next film, Racha, managed to become a box office success, it didn’t create much of an impact or showcase the actor’s acting prowess. The same was the case with all the movies that followed Racha, which were commercial potboilers and not the kind of films that gave the actor any scope to perform. That was when Ram Charan’s career was further haunted by an unforeseen disaster, on a scale that wasn’t even thought of.

The actor starred in the remake of the Bollywood superhit film Zanjeer, where he filled in the legendary Amitabh Bachchan’s shoes. Due to the inevitable comparisons, and poor execution, the movie turned out to be a disaster, even as Ram Charan’s performance in the film was praised.

Ram Charan was finally able to bounce back in 2016 with Dhruva, and while the film may have been a remake of the Tamil film Thani Oruvan, director Surender Reddy made it his own completely. Ram Charan’s transformation for the movie was more than surprising, with everyone lauding the actor’s hard work and determination towards reinventing himself for the film. Ram Charan gave his career-best performance in the film to date, at that point of them.

The very next year, the actor came up with Rangasthalam, directed by Sukumar, where he was seen playing a deaf guy. Ram Charan was lauded for taking up such a challenging role, despite being a mainstream actor, as mainstream actors usually don’t take such huge risks. Charan bowled it out of the park with his performance in the film, which pulled at everyone’s heartstrings. He struck all the right chords with the film, which turned out to be a non-Baahubali industry hit. This became the film that showcased the range of acting that Ram Charan is capable of, and the fact that there’s so much more to him than he lets on. Charan even received a Filmfare award for best actor that year, and the film continues to be his best work to date.

While Charan’s immediate follow up to Rangasthalam, Vinaya Vidheya Rama, maybe the worst film in his filmography, has now more than made up for it, with his stellar performance in the recently released RRR, directed by SS Rajamouli, where the actor has essayed the role of Alluri Sitaramaraju. Charan’s performance is being appreciated by everyone who has watched the film, with everyone being awestruck by the actor’s intensity and understanding of the complex layers his character possesses. The entire film revolves around his character, and there hasn’t been one scene or second where the actor disappoints.

The actor will now shortly be seen in a key role in his father’s film Acharya and is also currently working with director Shankar for his next.

On the occasion of his birthday, Ram Charan took to Twitter and thanked all of his fans and audiences for turning RRR into a blockbuster success, saying that he couldn’t have asked for a better birthday gift than the success of the film. On the whole, from being Megastar Chiranjeevi’s son to being a pan-Indian actor, Ram Charan has come a long way in his 15-year acting career. Here’s wishing the actor many more happy returns of the day, and a wonderful year ahead.