BW: Did you have to leave out anything from the book?
Gayathri: Sadly, the parts about Rajini’s brother, Nageshwar Rao, who died early. My editors felt it was making the book too long. My heart broke to leave that out because I researched that extensively. I’m hoping it will still get into the second edition!

BW: What did the Superstar tell you about the changes sweeping Tamil cinema – all the innovation and offbeat themes?
Gayathri: He is full of praise. Very open about praising young actors. He was the first star to openly recognize movies such as Paruthiveeran and Kalloori as new achievements in cinema.

BW: You spoke to the other stars. Did anyone say anything provocative?
Gayathri: No, all of them had only wonderful things to say about him. Well…perhaps SriPriya said something about how at one point in their platonic relationship there had been some tension, some disagreements. But they sorted it out.

BW: Every journalist must have wanted to write Rajini’s biography. How did you – an ophthalmologist by profession- beat them all to it?
Gayathri: I was feeling burnt out in my profession and wanted a change. Writing has always been a passion, so I knew I wanted to write a book but I didn’t yet know what it would be about. In March 2007 I was one of the contestants in the hot seats on the KBC show with Shahrukh Khan hosting. I didn’t make it to the final but something about writing a bio of SRK came up. That’s when I thought: why not write a biography of Kamal or Rajini? I was-am- a fan of both.

BW: Why Rajini and not Kamal?
Gayathri: To be honest, my first idea was to write on Kamal. That didn’t work out for various reasons. That’s when I thought it would be perhaps more interesting to write Rajini’s life story.

BW: And how did the project begin? How did you get access to the Superstar, and what did he have to say about you writing a book on his life?
Gayathri: Once I returned to Chennai from the KBC show I tried to meet Rajinikanth right away. But he was abroad shooting, and I met his wife instead. When I told her about my project she was happy that someone was writing her husband’s story.

BW: What did the Superstar finally say when you met him?
Gayathri: He had no problems about my writing his life but he made it clear that he did not want to participate in it because then it would become autobiography.

BW: So this is an unauthorized biography?
Gayathri: In the sense that Rajinikanth’s presence and participation is zero in the making of the book, yes.

BW: So he doesn’t actually talk in the book – that is, there are no interviews with him?
Gayathri: No. He did not want to talk. He did give me a few letters of his that I could quote from.

BW: But you met him quite a few times…what did you’ll talk about?
Gayathri: We spoke always off the record. So none of that went into the book.

BW: The book doesn’t tell his side of the story in his words, then?
Gayathri: That was the point of my book. This had to be not Rajini’s point of view, nor mine but a third person’s objective narration.

BW: But don’t you find that the biographer invariably shapes the material, and so it does become your point of view?
Gayathri: That’s the process, but I’ve used only facts. There are no conjectures here.

BW: So if the Superstar himself did not tell you his story, how did you gather all your information?