I was in Hyderabad between 2006 and 2013 during my first job.
I was working for a NYC based Hedge fund which had it’s Finance back office and Middle office operations based in Hyderabad.
If you know about Andhra Pradesh [back then Telangana was not formed yet], Hyderabad used to be the capital city. Almost everyone in the state loved Telugu movies and Telugu movie stars. There used to be dedicated fan clubs and even fans rivalry to a great extent. Even today, everyone from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh love their Telugu movies and Telugu movie stars. The fan clubs and rivalries remain even today.
Megastar Chiranjeevi was and still is a household name in Andhra Pradesh. He was and is still a sort of a Demi God for the masses. Walking in the lines of the Late Greats “MGR” & “NTR”, two super stars emerged in the South of India. Rajnikanth in Tamilnadu and Chiranjeevi in Andhra Pradesh.
Not only did they register box office hits whenever their movies released in the movie screens, they were also heavily involved in activities that aimed at helping the down trodden. The fan clubs used to engage in free meals drive, tree plantation drive etc on their star’s birthday. Even otherwise, the fan clubs used to engage in blood donation camps and clothes donation camps.
Although I had only heard of such welfare drives by major fan clubs, I never volunteered or participated in any of these drives because there was no access back in the 90s or early 2000s. When I reached Hyderabad, my office was in jubilee hills and exactly 1km away was this blood bank called “Chiranjeevi Blood Bank”!
I used to pass by this blood bank almost everyday on the wat to my office. I used to think of visiting this place and donating blood on a special day like my birthday or maybe Chiranjeevis birthday.
On 15th May 2008, I decided to visit this blood bank and donate blood. The occasion was my 2 year work anniversary. I went to the blood bank, got my name Registered, donated blood, got the ID and got back. This blood bank had state of the art facility and the host explained to me that every 300 ml of blood would be utilized in many ways.

So 15th May 2009 also I went and donated blood.
15th May 2010 also I went and donated blood.
Now that host was curious to know why I am donating blood every year on the same date. I just smiled and mentioned it was nothing special.
Then one month later, in June 2010, I received a call from this blood bank. The person on the other side informs me that Ram Charan sir [Chiranjeevi’s son] is visiting the blood bank to motivate the fan club members and blood donors. This person further informed me that I can visit the blood bank between a certain time window [3 pm to 4 pm] if I wish to get a picture clicked with Ram Charan himself!
So I reached the venue ahead of time. There were close to 500 people gathered during this 3 pm to 4 pm time window. I was not sure if I will get to Ram Charan but I waited in the line patiently. At almost 4 pm, I made it to the front of the line and there he was. He was looking very fit and stylish. He shook my hand firmly and thanked me for being a blood donor.
Then he asked me a quick question, “Are you from India?”
I was pleasantly surprised to see that he was interested in knowing more about me. I quickly replied, “Yes, yes. I am very much from India” with a big smile.
So although it was only a 20 seconds interaction, it was fully worth waiting. Whenever I see this picture, I remember how movie stars impacted my early life and motivated me to do something impactful for the society in our own small way.
And to see a star filled with such humility and respect for his father’s social responsibility, it was quite fulfilling.
BTW, I have been a huge fan of both Rajnikanth and Chiranjeevi (along with Chiranjeevi’s family of actors) since I was 5 years old! So this moment was definitely fulfilling.
— Varun Gowtham Mannava
