Rajinikanth special air craft
Away from his larger-than-life screen persona, Rajinikanth is grounded in reality.
The clamour is reaching a crescendo. Brands are rushing in to be seen alongside him. One of them, Malaysian airline AirAsia, has, in fact, created a history of sorts by deciding to fly his fans to the first day, first show of his forthcoming movie, Kabali, in a special aircraft that has his face painted in giant size on it.
In a hill village of Kerala, the Dalapathi Rajinikanth Welfare Association, a 25-year-old organisation started by his admirers, is planning to run 10 buses to Thrissur for the first day of the film's release. And, an enthusiast on a visit to India from the US intends to delay his return home till he has seen his film.
The frenzy defies logic. The critics remain flummoxed. 'Nowhere in (the) world, a man who looks like this can be (a) superstar. I wonder what he did to God that God did this to him,' recently tweeted filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma. Wonder as one may, but the fact is that there is no denying the 'Rajinikanth Phenomenon.'
Behind the hype and hullabaloo is a simple 65-year-old balding man who was born Shivaji Rao Gaekwad in Bengaluru, who lost his mother at the age of five, worked as a carpenter, a coolie and a bus conductor to make a living, and finally found a calling in Tamil cinema.
Fond of acting on stage, Rajinikanth was discovered by filmmaker Kailasam Balachander and groomed by S P Muthuraman who directed him in over 25 films.
Muthuraman describes him as a natural, unaffected person who has not changed from the man he was when he did his very first film, Apoorva Raagangal (1975), in which he played a supporting role. The lead role was played by Kamal Haasan.
Actor Arvind Swamy, who made his debut in Thalapathi (1991) starring Rajinikanth, recalls that so exhausted was he after the shoot that he went off to sleep in the very first room he found empty.
It was Rajinikanth's room. As the superstar's assistant hastened to wake him up, Rajinikanth stopped him. Swamy says when he woke up, he was shocked to find Rajinikanth sleeping on the floor.
His co-stars say that is the way he is. During shoot breaks, he will not rush back into his air-conditioned makeup room. Instead, he will stay on with his fellow artistes and often sleep on the sets, even on a bench, without a pillow, his eyes covered with a wet cloth.
"He is like a child in a candy shop. I have never seen an actor more excited than him on the sets," said Deepika Padukone, his co-star in Kochadaiyaan, in an earlier interview. The film was directed by Rajinikanth's younger daughter, Soundarya Rajinikanth Ashwin.
An extremely persistent man is how Ashwin describes her father. He didn't know a word of Tamil when he started and now look at him, she says.
Away from his larger-than-life screen persona, Rajinikanth is grounded in reality.
The clamour is reaching a crescendo. Brands are rushing in to be seen alongside him. One of them, Malaysian airline AirAsia, has, in fact, created a history of sorts by deciding to fly his fans to the first day, first show of his forthcoming movie, Kabali, in a special aircraft that has his face painted in giant size on it.
In a hill village of Kerala, the Dalapathi Rajinikanth Welfare Association, a 25-year-old organisation started by his admirers, is planning to run 10 buses to Thrissur for the first day of the film's release. And, an enthusiast on a visit to India from the US intends to delay his return home till he has seen his film.
The frenzy defies logic. The critics remain flummoxed. 'Nowhere in (the) world, a man who looks like this can be (a) superstar. I wonder what he did to God that God did this to him,' recently tweeted filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma. Wonder as one may, but the fact is that there is no denying the 'Rajinikanth Phenomenon.'
Behind the hype and hullabaloo is a simple 65-year-old balding man who was born Shivaji Rao Gaekwad in Bengaluru, who lost his mother at the age of five, worked as a carpenter, a coolie and a bus conductor to make a living, and finally found a calling in Tamil cinema.
Fond of acting on stage, Rajinikanth was discovered by filmmaker Kailasam Balachander and groomed by S P Muthuraman who directed him in over 25 films.
Muthuraman describes him as a natural, unaffected person who has not changed from the man he was when he did his very first film, Apoorva Raagangal (1975), in which he played a supporting role. The lead role was played by Kamal Haasan.
Actor Arvind Swamy, who made his debut in Thalapathi (1991) starring Rajinikanth, recalls that so exhausted was he after the shoot that he went off to sleep in the very first room he found empty.
It was Rajinikanth's room. As the superstar's assistant hastened to wake him up, Rajinikanth stopped him. Swamy says when he woke up, he was shocked to find Rajinikanth sleeping on the floor.
His co-stars say that is the way he is. During shoot breaks, he will not rush back into his air-conditioned makeup room. Instead, he will stay on with his fellow artistes and often sleep on the sets, even on a bench, without a pillow, his eyes covered with a wet cloth.
"He is like a child in a candy shop. I have never seen an actor more excited than him on the sets," said Deepika Padukone, his co-star in Kochadaiyaan, in an earlier interview. The film was directed by Rajinikanth's younger daughter, Soundarya Rajinikanth Ashwin.
An extremely persistent man is how Ashwin describes her father. He didn't know a word of Tamil when he started and now look at him, she says.
0 comments:
Post a Comment
Please , don't spam here , if do so , you will blocked