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 awayYes, 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 SuperstarAs 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’ hitThe 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.

Just a villainConsidering that Rajnikanth is so media shy, NDTV tried to understand the man behind the Superstar by speaking to his peers and family. Dhanush, his son-in-law said, “He is extremely spiritual and religious. A very disciplined man, and it is that aspect I would like to emulate from him. K Balachnader, the director who introduced both Rajnikanth and Kamal Hassan, said, “There was something about this boy, when I first saw him, that made me realize he has the potential.

His nose, his eyes, his features were very good, even though he was dark. And he told me “I want to be a star, that too as a villain!”

Vikram about Rajini Vs KamalNDTV interspersed the show with sound bytes from their earlier show, Walk the Talk with Vikram, who said, “In the beginning, it was Rajnikanth who was experimenting and doing different roles. He was playing the role of a villain, a psycho, etc, and experimenting with his films, whereas Kamal Hassan was playing the romantic hero in all films. Once Rajnikanth became a Superstar, he started giving a particular kind of films and Kamal Hassan began giving different films.”

As actor Prabhu rightly said, “If you see the film Chandramukhi, Jothika has given a brilliant performance, I was there in the film, P Vasu did the direction, and Rajnikanth’s role was such that he wasn’t even there in all the scenes in the film. And yet, it is undoubtedly a Rajni film and you need an actor of his caliber to be able to pull that off.”Truer words couldn’t have been said! While we leave you with the images (in your mind that is!) of the various Rajni “styles” that is a part of every Tamil cinemagoers vocabulary and mannerisms, here are a few more sound bytes from the show

Sound bytes from the show:
Kushboo:

He is a wonderful father and his daughters are completely dependent on him and respect his approval for all their decisions.As his co-star, I remember while shooting for Annamalai, he told me that the song we were going to shoot had my name in the song. I thought he was joking, because it is okay for me to sing Rajni, Rajni, but not for him to sing Kushboo, Kushboo. I thought audiences would never accept it, but well, the song turned out to be a super hit.

Prabhu:

While shooting for the song Konja Neram, in Turkey, it was freezing there. The superstar came wearing baggy pants and a thin shirt, much like a hero and I told him that it is very cold and he might need a sweater. He just shrugged and said no. Later, again I reminded him and he shrugged again. Two hours later, he turned to me and said, “Man! It’s freezing! Pass me the sweater!” That’s Rajnikanth for you, honest and humble, with a great sense of humour.

Sreedhar Pillai of The Hindu:

The director who direct Rajini’s film should always deliver what his fans like, rather than experimenting with him. For Sivaji, we hope that the Shankar and Rajni combo clicks.SP Muthuraman (the man who has directed the maximum Rajni films): I really appreciate his wife Lata’s commitment towards the family. Most creative artistes are temperamental, and it was Lata who lent that much needed support, and created a normal family life for Rajnikant and his daughters

K Balachander:

There might be many Superstars in the country, but Rajnikanth is truly one of a kind.