| |
| |
| NDTV
explores ‘The Rajni Factor’ |
|
|
|
Walk
on any street in Tamil Nadu, and nine out
of ten, the walls will be plastered with
a poster of Rajnikanth. Either it will be
on a shop board, or it will be painted on
the wall, or it will be a poster from one
of his films. |
|
|
The Rajnikanth fever in the state
is something that we live with, we
work with and simply accept. But for
anyone who does not experience it
first hand, it remains an unsolvable
mystery. How can this man, who is
dark, can’t dance, who looks
more like a villain than a hero, be
a Superstar? That is simply the magic
and charisma of Rajnikanth, and that
is what NDTV tried to understand in
a 30-minute programme, Witness, yesterday.
Simply titled The Rajni Factor, a
short, crisp show, with quotes from
various bigwigs in the industry, tried
to delve deep into the enigma called
Rajni, who is, with his film Sivaji,
one of the highest paid actors in
India!
|
|
|
Khans far away
Yes, you read right. At 16 crores for his
current film, Rajnikanth has even beaten
the Khans and the Big B, who are said to
earn between 7 and 10 crores. For Chandramukhi
itself, the Superstar earned 10 crores,
and looks like he is the only one who can
break his own record. Ramkumar said during
the show, “We make such huge profits
with his film, that we don’t see anything
wrong in paying him the amount, it is only
fair.” A sentiment echoed by AVM Saravanan,
who is currently producing Sivaji. |
|
|
“We
don’t mind paying him considering
the profits we make. In fact, for Sivaji,
I have paid him an advance of Rs 1001, and
he was bighearted enough to say that I could
pay him the rest after the movie is complete
and after I have taken care of my business
formalities.” |
|
| |
The phenomenon of the Superstar
As NDTV tried to understand the phenomenon
of the Superstar, one of the verdicts
that emerged was his peers in cinema
don’t even think it possible
to compete with him. He is the undisputed
Superstar, and competition exists
only for second place. Vijay, who
is at number two and who strongly
emulates Rajnikanth, earns 4 crores,
a huge gap between the first place
and the second. Vikram is next earning
3 crores, while Ajith earns two crores.
|
|
|
Rajini’s
flop = others’ hit
The
margin between a Superstar film and
any other actor’s film is so
huge that even box office numbers
are measured differently. While Baba,
Rajni’s film made 20 crores
at the box office, it was considered
a flop by Rajni standards, as anything
less than 35 crores is a flop for
a Rajni film. While, Vijay’s
Gilli, that made the same 20 crores
was considered a super hit. In fact,
Anniyan, Vikram’s film that
made 50 crores, is the only film to
have touched the Chandramukhi 50 crore
mark. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
