Return of the Titans? Telugu Industry abuzz about Chiranjeevi, Vijayshanthi comeback 
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Return of the Titans? Telugu Industry abuzz about Chiranjeevi, Vijayshanthi comeback

Written by : TNM

  Tollywood seems to be on a high. Even as the industry celebrates the success of S S Rajamouli's epic 'Baahubali,'  that is shattering records, two comebacks are being widely discussed in entertainment circles. They are two actors who had defined Tollywood and helped shaped the industry in their own way. Both of them tried a hand in politics, but had no spectacular success. Chiranjeevi's 150th film and actor Vijayshanthi's imminent return has fans excited. Chiranjeevi Its been a few months now, but the speculation over Chiranjeevi's return has only gathered momentum.  Though it was initially confirmed in May that the movie would be directed by Puri Jaganndh and produced by Chiranjeevi's son Ram Charan Teja and released on the actor's 60th birthday in August, a lot of confusion still remains. A few days after the confirmation, Deccan Chronicle carried a source based story that the script, which was written by B.V.S Ravi, was allegedly stolen from a new writer.  Adding to that, director V V Vinayak is also in talks with Chiranjeevi while Puri is directing a film with Varun Tej right now, which has left fans and critics confused. But sources close to Chiranjeevi say the movie will become reality soon and there is no looking back as the project has already been announced. Chiranjeevi had quit movies in 2008 as he launched the Praja Rajyam Party that year, but the party failed to perform well in its electoral debut in 2009. In 2011, Chiranjeevi merged his party with the Congress. He was subsequently nominated to the Rajya Sabha and was made a central minister during the UPA regime.  Chiranjeevi, started his career with "Punadirallu" in 1978 and his last full fledged role was in 'Shankar Dada Zindabad,' which was a remake of Sanjay Dutt starrer 'Lage Raho Munnabhai.' However, his last appearance was a 2009 cameo in 'Magadheera.'  Vijayshanthi National Film Award winner Vijayshanthi who has been dubbed as "The Lady Superstar" of south Indian cinema is also reportedly planning to get back into the industry and add to the list of 186 movies in seven languages that she has to her credit. "We are looking at some scripts before zeroing in on a subject. The greatest challenge is to live up to the expectations of the fans as they are going to see me after a long gap. I need to be very cautious, and efforts are on to come up with a great film," Vijayshanthi told Times of India on Wednesday. Vijayshanthi's career was also on similar lines to that of Chiranjeevi. After doing many films in the 80s and 90s, her last big film was Indiramma in 2004. After a stint with the BJP, which she joined in 1998, the actress started her own party in 2005 but faced the same response as Chiranjeevi and merged with the TRS in January 2009. She then went on to become the Lok Sabha MP for Medak representing the TRS. However, in February 2014, when ties between the TRS and the Congress were weak, Vijayshanthi defected to the Congress. She failed to win the Lok Sabha seat when she contested on a Congress ticket in the 2014 elections and has stayed away from the limelight since then.  TOI also reports that the film may hit the screen at the same time as Chiranjeevi's 150th. If this is true, it will be interesting to watch the box office collision of two of the biggest names in Telugu cinema.