IPM Oct 15-Nov 14 2019

From the Editor’s Desk

A B LAST FROM THE P AST ! INTERVIEWING CHINRANJEEVI 13 YEARS AGO FOR THE MAGAZINE ! Recently at a gathering, Srinivas Chimata of APTA in a conversation reminisced about an article I wrote in 2006 for IPM. He actually remembered every word I wrote and every nuance of the article. I reread it and felt it appropriate to republish it on the occasion of Sye Ra success. I hope his fans will enjoy this. Lost the original pictures so these pictures are hazy. By Meena Yeggina

Parent Magazine (Then called IndZine) 11 years ago). As I was sitting there, lost in my thoughts, my husband pointed out another group of journalists from MAA TV in India. “Maybe they know some details,” he said. I went to the anchor, who immedi- ately gave me the details and said that I can go along with them into the room. Chiranjeevi apparently is doing an exclusive with them (there’s a strong rumor that Maa TV is owned by Chiranjeevi and Nagarjuna). Thrilled, our family followed them upstairs, camera and notebook handy. Once in the corridor, we were stopped by two hefty bodyguards. They checked all of us and permitted us to wait in the corridor. Others who tried to stand in front of the room, waiting to get a glimpse were shooed away, albeit politely. MAA TV was called in and were there for 15 minutes. I handed my magazine to a junior actor Raja Ravindran, to show it to Chiru, requesting for an interview. Suddenly, I had a gut feeling that he would refuse to talk to us, assuming that he would be tired after Maa. Meanwhile, both the locally hired LA guards were regaling me with the stories of how mobs were simply not leaving. “For the man alone, people have been lining up

IPM Pic of Chiranjeevi 2006

It was the third and last day of ATA (American Telugu Association) convention in Los Angeles, California. The previous day has gone by with performances, running around and tagging behind my little girl for her makeup and dance. The next day, I was determined to meet Chiranjeevi, the VIP guest for ATA. I had to get an interview with him, getting India Parent the Bay Area’s only Chiru interview. I owed it to my readers. I called Krishna Kotagiri, the ATA PR contact several times requesting him to arrange a meeting. He said he’ll try and asked me to join him at the Hilton. My kids got excited about the news. My husband drove us to the hotel and all four of us went into the lobby. We met Krishna, who along with a laptop, sat at a table, sending pic- tures of previous day celebrations to their web site. When I inquired about the interview, he gave me another name and asked me to meet him. The other person was busy carrying lunch in a cart, and said he had to talk to me a bit later Within minutes I realized that both Krishna and the other person are useless, and are good only at big talk. They didn’t know Chiranjeevi’s sched- ule and didn’t have a direct contact to his room. I sat in the lobby for a few minutes, collecting my thoughts as to how to reach Chiranjeevi’s suite. I knew that the minute he sees the magazine he would talk to me. I remember, almost 11 years ago, when I was running a Telugu radio show in San Jose called Telugu Pracharam, I called his home in Madras, while I was visiting my parents living in Madras at that time, and spoke to him directly. He agreed to talk to me immediately, inviting me to his house (this interview was also published in the first issue of India

since 5AM.” They seemed completely besotted by the popular Andhra megastar. Within two minutes after Raja Ravindran went into the room, unexpectedly, Chiranjeevi walks out with my magazine in his hands. “Meena garu ,” he says, completely flooring me. He had my card in his hands. “ Eme kaavali meeku, photo na, interview na?” (What is it you need for the magazine, photo or interview?) Swallowing into my dry throat, I said “both, is that okay?” He looked into my eyes. “Promise me you’ll keep it short.” I did, nodding my head, unable to trust my voice, feeling like a child after a long, long time. “Sare, randi lopalaki,” (Okay, come inside). Four of us followed. He said to my husband, “please don’t video tape me, just pictures, because sometimes these videos get on the Internet and I’ve faced a few problems recently.” My husband agreed. However, within five minutes of the interview, Chiranjeevi changed his mind and gave a go ahead to video tap- ing, reprimanding the junior artist who asked my husband to stop taking pictures. “I said okay, why are you stopping him,” he admonishes him. The Padmabhushan then settles comfortably in the sofa ask- ing my children, Rishi Teja(10) and Sindhu (7), to sit next to him. He casually swings a hand around their shoulders, forcing them to come closer. My son was extremely happy, cuddling tighter, but my daughter shied away. She was however ready with a $100 bill to get his autograph. My son didn’t bother with any such thing, just happy plunking so close to the self-made star. Sitting

10 www.indiaparentmagazine.org

October 2019

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