May 9 This Year Is Extra Special For Many Reasons, Read To Know Why!

From Megastar receiving the Padma Vibhushan to blockbuster Telugu movie anniversaries to new movie announcements to popular stars’ birthdays, here’s what is special today

It’s one of those joyous days for millions of Telugu cinema and celebrity fans. Today, as we tried to open our social feeds, there were many exciting headlines and happy reports floating around. What else lifts the spirit of movie buffs or fans than some good news about their most-awaited films or favourite actors. Let’s take a peek into the specialities of May 9^th.

1. Megastar being Conferred With ‘Padma Vibhushan’

Pride of Telugu cinema and one of the eminent Indian actors, ‘Megastar’ Chiranjeevi has been conferred with the country’s second highest civilian honour ‘Padma Vibhushan’ in New Delhi today. With a long-standing career of 155+ films, portraying diverse characters, earning millions and millions of fans spanning generations, winning innumerable awards and accolades and setting an example with his philanthropy, Chiranjeevi is bestowed with another prestigious honour, in addition to the ‘Padma Bhushan’ in 2006. Most of the time awards are a way to acknowledge the hard work and contribution of the artists, but this is one of those rare moments where awards feel honoured to be in the hands of people who serve art.

President of India, Ms Draupadi Murmu will be conferring the Padma Awards at the Civil Investiture Ceremony taking place at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on May 9^th.

2. Release Day of Many Telugu Blockbusters

The fate of Telugu film industry was written and rewritten on this day, with the release of industry hits and massive blockbusters, which are celebrated even till date.

33 Years for ‘Gang Leader’

One of the highest-grossing films of 1991 which broke the then box office records with a collection of Rs 10+ Crore, Gang Leader was released on this day 33 years ago. Written by the script doctors Paruchuri Brothers and directed by Vijaya Bapineedu, the wholesome mass commercial film starring Chiranjeevi and Vijayashanthi impressed all kinds of audiences. The film’s Tamil-dubbed version was also a super hit in the states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala and it was later remade in Kannada, Hindi and Odia languages.

22 Years for ‘Santosham’

Before agreeing to act in this 2002 film, the ‘King of Romance’ warned director Dasaradh that he didn’t want to do love stories at the moment, but he ended up starring in a blockbuster romance comedy drama which not only revived, but also went on to become the highest-grossing film in the actor's career until then. Although the film reminded many of the Bollywood’s musical romance ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hain’, Santosham, starring Nagarjuna, Gracy Singh, Shriya Saran and Prabhu Deva in the lead roles, seemed like a fresh breeze for the Telugu audiences.

27 Years for ‘Preminchukundam Raa’

Aishwarya Rai was supposed to star alongside Venkatesh in this 1997 blockbuster Preminchukundaam Raa, but Anjala Zaveri has eventually bagged the role in this romance drama set in the backdrop of factionalism. Directed by Jayanth C Paranjee, It is said to be the first Telugu film that was screened for 100 days in more than 50 centres and for 50 days in nearly 60 centres.

28 Years for 'Bharateeyudu'

It has been long established that no one owns cinema like the Telugu audiences do, irrespective of the language or casting or content barriers. If they love the film, they place it on such a high pedestal that it becomes history, just like this 1996 Tamil original ‘Indian’, which was dubbed into Telugu as Bharateeyudu. With its sequel ‘Indian 2’ being just around the corner, did you know that the film was also India’s official entry to the Oscars in the category of ‘Best Foreign Language Film’, besides its massive box-office success? Yes, it’s been 28 years since the release of Shankar’s vigilante action drama that starred Kamal Haasan in a dual role.

3. A Day That Drew Victories for Vyjayanthi Movies

One of the mighty production houses in Telugu cinema established by Ashwini Dutt, Vyjayanthi Movies cherishes this day every year as some of the successful films under its banner were released on this day. Initially, their upcoming mammoth project Kalki 2898 AD was also scheduled for a worldwide theatrical release on May 9^th, but it recently got postponed to June 27. Be it Chiranjeevi’s 1990 fantasy Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari, Jr NTR’s action film Kantri, Mahesh Babu’s national award-winning Maharshi, Keerthy Suresh’s nostalgia-triggering biopic on and of Mahanati, all of these Vyjayanthi’s productions have thrived at the box offices on this memorable day.

4. Vijay Deverakonda & Sai Pallavi’s Birthday

May 9^th also marks the birthdays of Telugu cinema’s popular stars of this generation, Vijay Deverakonda and Sai Pallavi, both of whom created a sensation in the industry with their films Arjun Reddy and Fidaa, respectively. Although both the stars never shared the screen space together, their work crossed paths when Sai Pallavi was first offered Lily's role in Dear Comrade and Vijay Deverakonda was offered to play the lead in Virata Parvam. But, both of them turned down the offers. Interesting, isn’t it? 

5. Rowdy Announces His Upcoming Projects, #VD14 and #SVC59

On the occasion of his 35th birthday, the Rowdy boy has treated his fans by dropping two exciting updates about his upcoming films. He released the announcement posters of #VD14, which is touted to be a period action drama directed by Rahul Sankrityan, and #SVC59, which is said to be a rural action drama directed by Ravi Kiran Kola. The latter is also Dil Raju’s 59th production and Vijay Deverakonda’s 14th film is his second collaboration with the Taxiwaala director. Moreover, the director of his 12th project, Gowtam Tinnanuri also shared an update about the shoot of #VD12, which is currently taking place in and around Visakhapatnam.

6. ‘Thandel’ & ‘Amaran’ Makers Release A Special Video & Poster of The Lady Power Star

Makers of Lady Powerstar’s Telugu film Thandel and Tamil movie ‘Amaran’, have released a special video and poster, respectively, to celebrate Sai Pallavi’s birthday. Geetha Arts has unveiled a BTS video of Sai Pallavi from the sets of ‘Thandel’, a romance action drama inspired by real-life events, while Raaj Kamal Films International (RKFI) have shared a special poster of the actress from the biographical was film ‘Amaran’, in which she plays the role of Major Mukund Varadarajan’s wife Indu Rebecca Varghese.

7. Rashmika Mandanna Bags Another Big Bollywood Project

Today it was made official that the most happening actress Rashmika Mandanna has bagged another big bollywood project. The ‘Animal’ star has confirmed that she will be starring alongside Salman Khan in ‘Sikandar’, which is set to be directed by AR Murugadoss and produced by Sajid Nadiadwala. The 2025 eid-release will be her 5th project in Hindi, after ‘Goodbye’, ‘Mission Majnu’, ‘Animal’ and forthcoming ‘Chaava’.

You will remember this day forever now, won't you?