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| The views expressed
in the article are those of the writer. |
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| By Shoaib Mohamed |
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September 24, 2007 |
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Surprise, surprise, it’s yet another 100 for
the master and in case you are wondering, I am not
talking about Sachin Tendulkar. I am referring to
the completion of a 100-day run of yet another blockbuster
of Indian Cinema’s impregnable superstar Rajnikanth.
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I
have reason to believe that Tendulkar’s record of
international hundreds in cricket will be beaten in the
not too distant future, however I can’t for the life
of me imagine any other star in Kollywood even coming close
to matching Rajni’s incredible run of blockbusters
exceeding 100 days in his illustrious career spanning more
than three decades.
As
far as the movie Sivaji the Boss is concerned, today is
not merely a 100th day celebration but rather it has been
100 days of celebration. Diwali is still a good month and
a half away but for the millions of Rajni fans in India
and worldwide, the last 100 days have been equivalent to
100 days of Diwali.
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Sivaji the Boss, during the course
of the past hundred days, has re-written every established
Box Office Record in Kollywood and is likely to continue
to do so for many weeks, months and years to come
as well. The producers and the distributors of Sivaji
have not been able to wipe that ever-present smile
off of their faces owing to the unprecedented and
never before seen financial success of Sivaji the
Boss, worldwide. In the movie, actor Vivek refers
to the BOSS as Bachelor Of Social Service. However,
as far as the producers and distributors are concerned
Rajni is a different type of BOSS. To them he has
always been and always will be the one and the only
Box Office Super Star who effortlessly gives them
a maximum guarantee on returns every single time.
On the one very rare instance that he failed to do
so as in the case of Baba in 2002, Rajni shocked everyone
when he decided to return the monies to the distributors
so that they would not incur any losses. Such is the
magnanimous and principled nature of this awesome
human being.
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| Superstars
like Rajnikanth do not fade away. They seem to get brighter
with age. In his 32nd year in cinema, the Indian movie industry’s
greatest and most enduring crowd-puller has delivered yet
another mega hit that is infinitely bigger than anything ever
seen before. No other Indian movie star, not even the redoubtable
Amitabh Bachchan, another showbiz supernova, can match this
57-year-old man’s ability to single-handedly spearhead
box office money-spinners. Rajnikanth’s latest film,
Sivaji the Boss released world-wide on the 15th of June, is
still running to packed houses in many parts of Tamil Nadu
and elsewhere. The only rival / challenger of some substance
to Rajnikanth’s unprecedented success in the Indian
movie industry is Rajnikanth himself. What Rajni has achieved
and continues to achieve in his glittering and incredibly
successful career spanning more than 30 years can only be
emulated and / or beaten by Rajni himself. Nothing illustrates
this point better than the following sequence of events. Chandramukhi
became the highest grosser in Tamil movie history beating
another Rajni classic, Padayappa and now Sivaji has eclipsed
Chandramukhi as the biggest grosser in Tamil film history.
One will have to wait for Rajni’s next release to see
more new records being established. |
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Long before Shivaji Rao Gaekwad became Superstar Rajnikanth,
he was a humble bus conductor in Bangalore. His passengers
loved him. They knew him as the man who doled out
tickets like no one else could. He was free entertainment
in the otherwise jerky state transport. Shivaji was
happy, life was beautiful until an angel crossed his
path – his colleague. The colleague became his
friend, and urged Shivaji to challenge his horizons.
A hesitant, Shivaji took his first tremulous steps
into the tinsel town’s Tamil chapter and before
he knew it, he was swept off his feet and by the time
he came back down, Shivaji Rao Gaekwad was Rajnikanth
the Superstar. A new era dawned upon Indian Cinema,
an era that promised style, charisma, charm and a
never before seen electrifying screen presence that
would go on to enthral and captivate audiences in
India and all over the world, movie after movie, year
after year.
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Long before there was Matrix, there was Rajnikanth; performing
tricks not even Neo dared attempt in his sanest mind like
lighting a cigarette mid-air as it flipped or slicing a
bullet into two with a half blade. Unbelievable? The audience
didn’t think so. For them, he was the ubiquitous Robin
Hood, friend of the poor and enemy of the State. With his
dark skin, and guy down the road looks, he was the hope
for the masses, suppressed by the age-old caste politics
of the higher ups in the dog-eat-lesser-dog pyramid. As
it has been said in one of the James Bond movies, 'No one
does it like you do, no one does it half as good as you'.
That is why Rajnikanth is the Superstar, that is why he
reigns in the hearts of the masses and that is why no one,
and I mean absolutely no one can take his place as the emperor
of Indian Cinema. Ore oru chandhiran, ore oru suriyan, ore
oru Superstar and that is Rajnikanth.
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As he continued devouring the baddies
on screen, the shrieking mass frenzy off-screen put
him on a pedestal, idolized him and made him a temple.
He was officially declared and bestowed upon the Demi
- God status in Indian Cinema. He had power, and he
wielded it with aplomb befitting only the larger than
life Royalty. From Durban in South Africa to Tokyo
in Japan, the Rajnikanth fan following grew to unimaginable
proportions. Movie after movie, Rajnikanth’s
conquests grew. Alexander the Great’s own escapades
pale in comparison and with each of his conquests,
his fan following, both in India and overseas grew
by the millions. To say that Rajni’s incredible
fan following is unmatched and the biggest by far
for any Indian star is truly an understatement. To
the masses Rajni on screen was the new Krishna, not
an idealist, but a man who will achieve his goals
with the help of illicit loopholes in the system.
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He is not Rama, who did everything right, as per the moral
code of conduct. People are not moved by mighty speeches
that beckon them to arise, awake, and take action. They’d
much rather connect to someone who shows them how it’s
done. Through Rajni, people live vicariously, exacting retribution
for all the wrongs they see around them.
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