In 1988, during the shooting of Marana Mrudangam in Madras, a fan mixed a substance into a cake and tried to feed it to Chiranjeevi on set. The actor's lips turned blue and he immediately spat it out.
A compilation of Thriller recreations from around the world, saved to Michael Jackson's YouTube account, included Chiranjeevi's iconic Golimaar sequence from the 1985 Telugu film Donga, placing it in a rare company.
The shift, however, is easier said than done. For actors accustomed to massive upfront fees, moving to a performance-linked model requires a significant mindset change.
