It is obvious that superstar Rajnikanth is slowly evolving into a politician and gone are the days when it was difficult to fathom what he means to say.
It is obvious that superstar Rajnikanth is slowly evolving into a politician and gone are the days when it was difficult to fathom what he means to say.
The first time I heard him speak in the public was in 2011 at the AVM Rajeswari Kalyanamandapam, Mylapore, Chennai.
It was a felicitation function for S.P.Muthuraman, the only person who has directed Raijni in 25 films, a record by itself. Several of them were megahits including Velaikkaran, Gurusishyan, Dharmathin thalaivan, Mr.Bharath, Sri Raghavendrar, Paayum Puli, Netrikkann,Bhuvana Oru Kelvikuri and Murattukkalai.. In the late 1970s, his association with Rajini proved to be extremely successful.. Muthuraman was mainly responsible for moulding Rajini's career and turning him into a commercial star Hence, Rajini had a great regard for Mr.Muthuraman as much as he had for K.Balachander who brought him into Tamil film industry.
It was a major gathering of all top film celebrities. As Rajini was convalescing after some major problem; nobody was sure whether he would turn up at all.
But as his frequent punch line reverberates (loosely translated it would read like this): "Nobody would know when he would come and how he would come. But he will come at the right time."
In spite of his poor health, he did manage to come.
Though he spoke only for a few minutes it revealed that he was a down-to-earth man, not given to the grandiose tantrums normally associated with film stars.
Apart from recording his love and affection for Mr.Muthuraman, Rajini spoke about his future (then in 2011) in the most candid fashion which none would ever bother even to attempt.
He was so brutally frank: "I am not a great actor in the league of Kamal at all. I don’t have so much "masala" (he means stuff or histrionics). But what fans expect from me is "fastness" (probably he means that he has got to be very fast or pacy in his actions including his own inimitable way of throwing the cigarette up and smoking and favourite mannerisms).
He also declared that it would be imprudent on his part to continue acting if he is unable to act the way that his fans want him to (because of his ill-health).
Now it is 7 years. He is now 67. Even now he continues acting in the fashion that his fans expect him to. He has become an icon and a sort of demi-God in the mould of MGR.
His articulation is also fast improving. Though he is accustomed to applause and adulation all the time, he knows pretty well that time is not far off when he would be weighed more by actions and his proper articulation than by mere histrionics.
As he said at a function wherein he unveiled the statue of MGR at Velappanchavadi, near Chennai, on March 5 “I am discharging my duties as an actor correctly. But how about you politicians? When you don’t discharge your duties properly I have to come in”.
I watched that speech at least half a dozen times in order to study how much has he grown.
"There is a vacuum in Tamil Nadu politics. It needs leadership. Hence it needs leaders," he asserted. The way of his assertion using his hankie shows he has started combining his histrionic ability with the current reality of being a politician. Nobody would be able to miss how he used his hankie to drive home the point.
"When there were two strong leaders like Jayalalithaa and Karunanidhi, there was no vacuum... Tamil Nadu needs a leader and I have come to fill in," he said.
He showered praise on both Jayalalithaa and Karunanidhi as great leaders who had their party under their control in spite of all the trials and tribulations they had to undergo. He called Karunanidhi "my good friend", who managed to keep the party intact despite being out of power for 13 full years. "No such leader is now around", he pointed out.
He himself raised the frequently raised question why he did not bother to enter politics before the demise of Jayalalithaa, and said “there is no necessity for me to keep on repeating what happened in 1996 (when he called for the defeat of Jayalalithaa saying even God won’t be able to save Tamil Nadu if Jayalaithaa were to be returned to power and how she was thrashed at the hustings).
While inaugurating a statue of MGR he said, "Many say all can't become MGR. Yes, none can become MGR. He's a yuga purush. But I have the confidence that I can give MGR's good governance."
MGR is often referred to as the benchmark of success in politics, especially for an actor, with many other cinema professionals trying to emulate him by taking the political plunge in Tamil Nadu.
He has also started subtly using the technique, what Addison would call, “willing to strike but afraid to wound”.
While explaining what he means by "aanmeega arrayal" (“spiritual politics”) , he wondered why people are expressing some reservation. “I mean "nyaayamaana, nermayana, jaathi madha bethamatra arasiyal. Thooymayana, Arasiyal (I mean just, honest, secular and clean politics).
Then comes his punch line: “In Dravidian politics, is there no scope for honesty or integrity?. After all that is what I mean by spiritual politics”. Without being openly critical of his friend and rival Kamal Haasan, who has been trumpeting his fondness for “Darvidam”, Rajini has a jibe ready for him thus.
He goes on to explain further: “every human being is a paramathma” (God) (meaning that there is God in everyone). And you are going to see aanmeega arasiyal soon,” he announced.
He also made it clear how he is going to do it. He would use the latest technology and also the wisdom of the well-experienced and well-read.
It is obvious that both Rajini and Kamal are trying to woo the youngsters for whom you need not spend on “quarter bottle or chicken biryani”.
Both of them know pretty well that once the youngsters are impressed, they would do everything on their own; including electioneering. They would become a very strong cadre because only youngsters could be attracted by ideology. Nothing else will sway them and more often than not they would start scoffing at the initiatives to lure them.
Of course, some of the channels went on claiming that there was a vast divide between Rajini and Kamal on the issue of English.While Kamal wanted the youngsters to speak in Tamil in order to help it grow, Rajini said “Tamil will grow only if Tamilian grows. Sundar Pichai (Google CEO) is a Tamilian and Abdul Kalam (former President) is a Tamilian. And when they grew, Tamil also grew”, he contended.