Chiranjeevi -- the star who made a dramatic comeback

New Delhi, Oct 28: He cruised up touching the sky in the tinsel town like a powerful rocket, but when

replaced the engine of

with rustic politics, it was not smooth sailing for him.

In the end, like any other Indian blockbuster, hero Chiranjeevi emerged the winner by finding himself in the Union Council of Ministers, which was expanded today, after spending almost two full years in political hibernation.

He was inducted as Minister of State with Independent charge. The superstar, who entertained millions of young men, women, children and old alike through his inimitable style whose mantra only he knows, left his lucrative career to test his fortunes in politics at the age of 53 in 2008.

His journey in politics was not a bed of roses but was filled with thorns which the actor, who had not tasted failure at the box office for years together, could not swallow it like he did success.

In less than year after launching his party, his outfit contested state elections only to win less than 20 seats with Chiranjeevi himself losing one assembly seat of the two he contested.

Widely perceived as the only person who could recreate the magic of NTR, the legend whose star power catapulted him to the Chief Minister's post in just nine months after his plunge in politics, Chiranjeevi was not bestowed with a magic wand.

With his prediction going haywire, Chiranjeevi stood isolated in politics with no friends to guide him and was forced to walk on the fire that eventually took a cinematic turn -- his infant party was dissolved in a split second and merged with Congress, which was the prime enemy when he took a plunge in politics.

From Feb 2011 to Oct 2012, Chiranjeevi was almost in oblivion except when he ventured out for a couple of rare meetings with Sonia Gandhi.

PTI