Kirayi Rowdylu, directed by A. Kodandarami Reddy, was released in 1981. A box-office hit, it was one of the earliest unions between Chiranjeevi and Mohan Babu.
In a recent interview, filmmaker Kanagala Jayakumar revealed that Mohan Babu was dead against the sequence of names in the open credits. In the original version decided at the first copy stage, Chiranjeevi was named first. Mohan Babu insisted that his name should come first because he is senior to Chiru. This was conveyed to Jayakumar, who was the film's Co-Director.
After some back and forth and series of arguments, director Kodandarami Reddy and producer Kranthi Kumar decided to place Mohan Babu's name first but with a twist. After the entire cast, at the end, Chiru's name was included with a banger: "Above all, our Chiranjeevi", the title card said. This made Chiru seem bigger while allowing Mohan Babu a formal win.
Kirayi Rowdylu was a super-hit at the box office. Radhika, Rao Gopal Rao, Allu Ramalingaiah, and Prabhakar Reddy were seen in different roles in it.
