N.Gunasekar and Kanakaraj, the Founders of the Alex Pandian Rajinikanth Narpani Mandram at Puliyakulam work at a club in Race Course. Both of them had to discontinue their studies due to their economic conditions and began their careers as pickerboys in the club tennis courts during the times of the iconic tennis coach Noor Mohammed, over thirty years ago. Later on they began working in the club kitchen as assistants who would cut veggies or clean and wash the kitchen and the utensils. Over the years Gunasekar has become a waiter in the club and Kanakaraj, the Billiards Marker. Nataraj, the father of Gunasekar was working in a factory and later moved over to being a flooring polisher and now he is a security person with an ATM service provider while Kannamma the mother has been a homemaker. Its really interesting to learn that both of them have been ardent fans of Superstar Rajinikanth from their childhood and were responsible for the "Alex Pandian Rajinikanth Narpani Mandram" at Puliyakulam, so named after the role played by Rajinikanth in the movie " Moondru Mugam" wherein he dons the role of an honest cop.
Both Gunasekar and Kanakaraj were fun loving boys who worked hard to make their ends meet and they ensured that they worked hard enough to watch the same Rajini movie several times. "I started of with the Rajini starrer "Murattu Kaalai" and my favourite song for all times by him is "Podhuvaaga En Manasu Thangam" from the same movie. I used to watch all the Rajini movies several times. In fact I saw "Basha" and "Rajadhiraja" about 25 times. Our fan club members used to get together and watch the first show of the movie by staying overnight in the theatre. We used to perform "Arathi" right inside the theatre and break coconuts outside. All of us were impressed by the stand taken by Rajini, the cop against Senthamarai, the villian in "Moondru Mugam" and therefore we named our fan club "Alex Pandian Rajinikanth Narpani Mandram" after the name of the role model cop played by the Superstar." states a beaming Gunasekar.
"Superstar Rajinikanth used to extol us, his fans to first attend to our work and family before sparing time for the fan club activities and we strictly followed his advice. Therefore we are doing well in life today. We bought carrom boards with our collective resources and engaged the youngsters in a decent manner. Though we were Rajini fans, we used to watch movies by other stars and never indulged in any negative criticism through our fan club for our Superstar would never like it. He is a great role role model for people like us. Superstar never wanted us to waste milk and therefore we never used it to perform "Milk Abhishekhams" to his cut outs in the cinema halls. My favourite Rajini song is "Oruvan Oruvan Mudhalali" from the movie "Muthu", "adds a smiling Kanakaraj.
"We liked the 'style' portrayed by the Superstar. He offered family entertainment and gave several good messages to the people and supported social causes at all times. He believed in hard work and therefore we emulate him. The fact that we were part of the Mandram helped us get tickets for all his movies and we never missed any of them. In fact we even saw his movie in English "Bloodstone" and his remake of "Malayoor Mammattian" in Hindi. All of us celebrated the success of all Rajini Starrers by watching the movies on the 50 th day or 100 th day or at the time of the Silver Jubilee (25 weeks). We used to celebrate Rajini, our hero by having events in Puliyakulam. Some years ago, we had a music performance by visually impaired performers in our neighbourhood. The fan club celebrated events by distributing books to the poor and by hoisting flags. We have Rajini photos in our phones and in our homes too. Whenever a Rajini song was played either in the television or radio we tend to increase the volume. All of us bought his song cassettes those days and played it in our houses on all special occasions. We used to lend the cassettes to our near and dear regularly for Rajini Sir advises everyone to share their joy. The fan club has been peace loving and was never involved in any kind of conflict for it is run as per the ideology of the Superstar" share both Gunasekar and Kanakaraj.
Gunasekar and Kanakaraj, the ardent fans of the Superstar fondly remember the theatres and special occasions when they watched his movies. In fact Gunasekar and his wife Geetha took their daughter Sandhya even as a baby to the movie "Arunachalam" and son Praveenkumar to the movie "Padaiyappa" for they considered it be equivalent to a ear piercing and tonsuring ritual done as part of custom. The first movie that was savoured by Kanakaraj and his wife Annalakshmi was "Arunachalam" and he remembers watching it in the KG Cinema those days. They are full of energy while recalling some facts about Rajini movies and details of actors who donned the grease paint along with him, "The Movie - "Sivappu Suriyan" was the first mpvie in Maruthi Theatre. "Thai Veedu" was released in Shanthi and we watched "Billa" in Irudhaya, "Pokkiri Raja" in Royal and "Thudikkum Karangal in Geethalaya. One of the best Rajini movie villians , was the actor Senthamarai. The biggest cut out of Rajini those days was put up for the movie "Basha" and it was 100 feet tall. We danced happily for the song "Sokku Podi Vachiruken" in the theatre while watching the movie "Maaviran" directed by Rajasekar and co starring Ambika. Radhika was another popular co star for our Superstar". Both Gunasekar and Kanakaraj want to meet Rajinikanth in person along with their families. The journey of the "Alex Pandian Rajinikanth Narpani Mandram" near the Amman temple in Puliyakulam on the outskirts of Redfields continues in the hearts of ardent Rajinikanth fans like Gunasekar and Kanakaraj who have held on to quality entertainment while also espousing social causes in line with the noble ideals put forth by the Superstar.