RAJINIKANTH, THE LIVING LEGEND, BEYOND THE PHENOMENON- CAPT AJIT VADAKAYIL

BRAND RAJINIKANTH,  RE-DEFINING  CULT STATUS - CAPT AJIT VADAKAYIL

This post is in response to one of my readers.

When my elder son was doing his ME at Cornell University , USA he narrated an amusing scene at campus on Skype, which caught the eyeballs of all.

The Tamilian students had chartered a bus , decorated it with the film posters of Enthiran ( Robot ) and were driving down to a nearby city to watch the movie.  The bus was jam packed with noisy revelers, like what you get to see after winning a world cup soccer finals--  with a couple of Japs thrown in for good measure.

They were the cynosure of all eyes,  and none of this made sense to any- including my son

So I had to explain that the people of Japan fell in love with a dubbed movie "Muthu" starring Rajnikanth. 

It is now standard practice for Japs to fly down all the way to Chennai to attend the first day release of Rajnikanth's movies.

In addition to the movie they get to see the emotional fireworks of his die hard fans. His fanatic fans totally in awe would do puja, break coconuts, burst crackers, distribute free sweets-- you get to see the works.

And when the movie started , there would be thunderous applause when Rajni-saar first appeared on screen. The audience laughed when he laughed , they cried when he cried, they sulked when he took the first punch and they burst into rapturous cheers and threw confetti when he hammered ze bad guys.

When Rajni hit them bad guys , they stayed hit--as simple as that. A couple of uppity elite might smirk at his gravity defying jumps, or when he kicks three prime asses with two feet . But then who cares- as long as the masses love it and they lap it up.

His unique mannerisms, idiosyncrasies and style tailored dialogue delivery on screen are the trade secrets of his astonishing mass popularity and appeal.   The man with the Midas touch pulls out all stoppers on screen .

Did someone say that anybody can do all this -- well sonny-boy, that is not the way the cookie crumbles. You need to create a sense of entertainment among viewers to achieve this. 

You need to have the ability to connect with everyone in theaters- it makes them stop demanding answers. The only actor, whose movie tickets sell like hot cakes on the first day is Rajinikanth.

  

It will be no exaggeration to declare that Rajinikath is the most loved film star on this planet. He has been in the industry for 30 years --and he is getting more love with every passing day.

Every movie of his would have a punch line--the audience knew it.  Finally when the invariable happened , they would cry WOW! -- and that would be the talk of the town for the next 3 months.

“Andavan solran, Arunachalam seiran.”  

“God decrees, Arunachalam delivers.”

The audience slips from the edge of their seats and jumps on their feet.

CLAP CLAP CLAP!!!    

PWEEET PWEEET PWEET !!!!

To decode the Rajini phenomenon Grady Hendrix, a writer at slate.com, once wrote, “If a tiger had sex with a tornado and then their tiger-nado baby got married to an earthquake, their offspring would be Rajinikanth.”

Rajnikanth's  image is larger than life, in a way you can hardly imagine. Over the years his mass base has swelled--even with people who have never seen his movies , but just seen flashes of him on TV.  For some it is impossible to fathom, the method behind all this madness

On the Internet you find Rajini jokes --if RajiniCANT nobody CAN. --all in good humor.

Rajinikanth doesn't answer Nature's call. Nature attends Rajinikanth's

Rajinikanth doesn’t wear a watch. He decides what time it is.

Rajnikanth once wrote a cheque, the bank bounced!

When GOD got shocked he exclaimed  Oh my Rajnikanth!!

Rajniknath knows what came first, the egg or the hen!

Rajni chahte hain ke big boss confession room main aye

He is the highest paid actor in Asia due to his amazing on screen charisma , and has worked in over 150 films-yet he is a simple , unassuming, courteous and god fearing man. . 

He does not carry his screen image in real life and he acts his 62 years age--sans ego . People love humble and generous celebrities. He is NOT the kiss and tell type philanthropist.

He is not even conventionally handsome. He has NIL starry airs and displays a remarkable absence of flashiness.  Those who haven't watched a Rajini movie are left perplexed by the frenzied crowds every new film draws.  But there's no denying Rajini Saar's appeal,

Born in an impoverished Maharashtrian family , to a policeman, he struggled to make both ends meet . He secured a low paying job as a bus conductor in Bangalore. 

A born performer , happy go lucky Rajni kept his passengers amused with his daily gibberish and mimics of top film stars . People loved to ride his BTS bus and were happy when he took in their two penny advise, on how to be a better performer.

Fate smiled on him and he got to act on stage as Duryodhana . He was instantly noticed and he was given a break by the Tamil movie director K Balachander as a villain in Apoorva Raagangal.  It takes a Balachander to spot raw talent. 

The veteran director, it seems, confided in his close friend and associate Ananthu, “Watch out! There is a fire in the young man’s eyes. One day he will take Tamil Nadu by storm.”

There was NO lookin' back and he went from strength to strength and soon built up the most dedicated fan following on this planet.. He truly made it large--in the right sense.

People friendly themes like respect for the aged parents,  helping the downtrodden  and the underdog,  hard work , the power of self-help,  flimsiness of materialism,  preponderance of relationships  over money, listening to the voice of conscience , repeatedly featured in his songs and movies . 

He stayed aloof from media attention when the rest of the ego laden stars were hungry for the limelight.  A true ascetic, he even went on pilgrimage to the Himalayas.

Two days ago on 12th Dec 2012,   Rajinikanth’s birthday is not his to celebrate alone. Around the country, his fans organized blood donation camps, pujas at temples, charity events to garner financial aid for the needy and even special lunches at old-age homes. 

In a rare coincidence  this day falls on 12-12-12, a unique day which occurs once in a 100 years.

The Mega star  has produced a medley of hits, unmatched by anyone who have been in the film industry for so long-- 30 years of it.  People cannot have enough of his cigarette toss, his corny walk, his sunshades flip, his chuckle and his giggles on screen-- he can be a good comedian too, unlike MGR.

Once to spite him,  his neighbour ex-actress Jayalalitha’s ( Chief Minister ) minion watchdog police stopped his car in a huge crowd , ( waiting to see her ) till she passed through.   It was to impress upon Rajni , the immense popularity of Jayalalitha .  Rajni was tired after a shooting shift and wanted to get home,  so he got out of the car and started walking towards his home at Poes gardens. The entire cheering crowd followed him, and it turned out to be a case where the spit fell on the own face. There can be no retribution as severe as this.

Yes he has earned love and respect- unlike the others who demanded it , and sulked when they did not get it. 

He is the only actor on the planet who gave back money to the producer/distributors when one of his films did NOT do as well as expected.

He says that his most valuable possession is the appreciation letter from K.Balachander for the film "Mullum Malarum"-- speaks a lot of inherent gratitude and his moral fibre.  

Gratitude is the noblest of all virtues and is the parent of all other human virtues.  Grateful people have memories stored inside their hearts. 

It was indeed a fine poet who wrote " Blow, blow, thou winter wind, and chill my bones- thou art not so unkind as man's ingratitude" . 

Rajnikant,  if you read this post,  you must know that you are destiny’s child.   If you join politics and provide a clean government to uplift poor and downtrodden people,  your name will be engraved on rock for ever.

 CAPT AJIT VADAKAYIL

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