The Name is Rajinikanth: Making of the Superstar
“I do not know what the contents are,” said Cho wondering why they didn’t give a copy of the book ‘The Name is Rajinikanth’ though they wanted him to speak on the occasion of its launch last week.
A little later, the author’s husband admitted: “We were scared about he would say.”
On reading the book, you realise they needn’t have worried.
The larger-than-life true story by itself more than makes up for the flaws in its telling. The compilation of the Superstar’s filmography with plot summaries and release dates, makes the book a ready reckoner for hardcore fans and trivia buffs.
Yes, it does read like a flippant novel that’s been compiled from blog posts with spelling inconsistencies, punctuation errors and haphazard non-linear structuring-without-a-cause.
Gayathri Sreekanth, the author of the book, explains: “Keeping in mind his personality, I wanted to make it racy. I wanted it to read like a screenplay.”
And, as D.R.Karthikeyan, former CBI director and head of Special Investigation Team probing the Rajiv Gandhi assassination understates, the book sure can do with a little editing.
“The credibility of the book comes out because she was prepared to find out his own failings he admits in his life. One thing about Rajni is that he’s not a hypocrite. He has the courage to admit whatever has happened in his life and whatever he is. That’s his greatest quality and that’s what endears him to millions of people,” notes Karthikeyan.
“The book deals in an interesting way, the transformation of an ordinary looking, not extraordinarily talented actor, born from a poor family, highly mischievous in his younger days, into a superhero with a massive fan following,” adds the outspoken police officer.
“Karthikeyan has read the book obviously,” political commentator and journalist Cho said at the book launch. “He cannot wait for the release. As a policeman, he must be allergic to word ‘release’,” he quipped as the crowd erupted into laughter.
“To know Rajnikant as a friend is a matter of pride for me,” said Cho. “Can anyone define him? I do not know. He’s in the show business. But, he’s not a showman. He makes political comments now and then when he chooses. But, he’s not a politician. He talks spiritualism. But he’s not a guru or an acharya. So whatever he does is different from whatever he is. Essentially, he’s in my mind, an act of God.”
True to that quote, the book gives us a glimpse of what went into the making of the Superstar and his inexplicable persona. The book dwells on the paradox that he is, and provides an insight into his personal and professional crises, also touching upon issues close to his heart – spirituality and politics.
As the book hits the stands and with the publishers having plans of translating it into Tamil, the next round of persuasion for Superstar to join politics has already started.
“What is democracy ultimately,” asks Karthikeyan. “Do you have the support, confidence and strength of the largest number of people? That’s the only qualification. Nobody is born with experience of administration. A person who can inspire thousands of people, lakhs of people is certainly entitled to be in politics.”
But does the Superstar ever give in to such pressure?
Cho gives us an insight: “The Mahabharatha says of a king: Do not do anything all by yourself. Consult a chosen few and even they should not know what decision you’ve taken. So though as close friends we give our opinions on his film scripts, ultimately we do not know what decisions he has taken or what changes he has made till they are implemented. It’s his own decision. That’s the sign of a great manager, an administrator. To get proper advise, to sift, to sort it out and then, to make a decision of his own.”
“If Rajni enters politics, Tamil Nadu will go one step ahead of everybody,” believes Cho. “Because, basically, the man is honest. His grasp of even international issues, his concern for the common man, all this go together to make him the ideal choice. I wish he does but I do not know if he will.”
He is a man of mystery and continues to be so. It was the day of the release of a book on his life and he didn’t deem it right to be present. His daughter Soundarya was present though. “It is a great honour to be here today. On behalf of Appa, I would like to wish Gayathri and her team all the very best. Thanks,” is all she spoke.
Shorter than even soft-spoken AVM Saravanan’s brief speech where he called it “a nice book about a good man.” Apparently, Gayathri had told him that she had no problems at all putting the book together and she got all the co-operation she needed from him. “Looks like I should talk to her next time to get Superstar’s dates.”
As the book reveals, he’s not too enthusiastic about politics, signing films in a hurry or inclined towards endorsements. Cho believes this to be a saintly quality. “Any Chief Minister or Prime Minister believes that the chair is greater than him. Which is why they are afraid to leave it. But Rajni, he’s greater than everything he does,” observes Cho.
Ajay Mago, publisher of Om Books International, says that the idea to do a book on a Tamil Superstar came after Mushtaq Shiekh’s ‘Still Reading Khan’ sold over 30,000 copies. While ‘The Name is Rajinikanth’ is not exactly in the same genre, it does have a far greater appeal than any coffee table book because it’s an extraordinary story of an ordinary man – a true story of a much-celebrated Superstar who remains a reclusive enigma.
Superstar on politics (excerpts from the book):
“When you enter politics, you have to compromise. You cannot be honest and clean. It is difficult to maintain your decency and it is not easy to have principles. I also know that one person cannot change the face of politics. The system is such. The British rules, outdated as they seem, are still implemented. So unless the system changes thoroughly, it is not possible to revolutionise political transparency. Until bureaucracy exists, there will be red-tapism and well, corruption levels will continue to be higher…
My path is spiritual and acting is my profession…
But you never know what is in store tomorrow. Yesterday, I was a bus conductor. Today I am an actor. Tomorrow, who knows?”
Vellithirai: Duet’s love-letter to Tamil cinema
Genre: Comedy
Director: Viji
Cast: Prakashraj, Prithviraj, Gopika, Sarath Babu, Pratap Pothen
Storyline: A podgy middle-aged wannabe steals his friend’s script to become a superstar
Bottomline: An earnest critique on the state-of-the-art
If someone were to put together a film that reviews the state of Tamil cinema, ‘Vellithirai’ would be it.
There are very few like Duet Films who could do exactly that with authority and not be told: People living in glass houses… Simply because the guys at Duet Films do not live in glass houses to have stones thrown back at them.
The film, by example, begins with a humble acknowledgement to the source material with the story credited to Roshan Andrews, the director of the Malayalam original ‘Udayananu Tharam.’ Yes, there’s an entire sequence inspired from Steve Martin’s ‘Bowfinger’ but let’s blame that on Roshan too.
Roshan’s story is just the take-off point for an introspective look at Tamil cinema and its trappings: Middle-aged stars who believe they can play youth by knocking off 15 kilos, the need for every star to have a sobriquet first name to claim his arrival, the way stars dictate changes to the script to suit their image, the dependence of filmmakers on the leading man to get a producer and the finances for the film and how compromise is a necessary evil in commercial cinema.
Hence, the content itself, though borderline stereotypical, is reflective of the state-of-the-art but Viji gives every character a redeeming twist – like the astrologer-consulting producer actually deciding to back a total newcomer because he believes in his merit. Or, the ever-understanding honest associate director turning to driving call-taxis because he can’t deal with living in his wife’s shadows. Or, the actor coming up with a solid explanation on why Stanislavski’s system would not work here in Tamil cinema. When he says ‘That is his science. This is our culture. We are a loud race by nature. We beat our chests during funerals,” you realise this character is no stereotype. This is what every actor believes before he becomes a star, after which he becomes the stereotype: the all-powerful, egocentric, supreme being vain enough to act in movies where his stature is equal only to God.
Prakashraj is brilliant as Kannaiyan-turned-‘Thalapathy’ Dilipkanth, retaining the humanness of a character that could’ve ended up as pure caricature while Prithviraj ends up as a complementing contrast to Prakashraj’s loudness with his restrained underplaying – a fine example of Stanislavski’s system of behaving the character. Gopika, M.S.Bhaskar, Sarath Babu and Pratap Pothen are examples of smart casting – where on-screen persona does half the job for the role they have to play.
Despite the earnestness and sincerity with which Viji goes about telling this story that is a must-watch for every filmmaker, actor and member of the film fraternity, he does stumble in the storytelling itself. The film takes a while to get going, often interrupted by the mandatory song and dance (though G.V.Prakash Kumar’s catchy tunes are lavishly and interestingly shot) and harps a little too much on the love story in the end when what you are really concerned about is how the larger issue in the film would resolve itself – would the puppet pull the strings of the puppeteer again or would the storyteller finally put the puppet in its place?
But then, as the in-built argument in the film goes, compromise is a necessary evil and ‘Vellithirai’ ends a few notches below where it could’ve gone. It’s not quite the intensely passionate, personal love-letter to cinema but it surely is quite an interesting review of our cinema for those who love it.
Black & White: Jaded & Faded
Genre: Drama
Director: Subhash Ghai
Cast: Anurag Sinha, Anil Kapoor, Shefali Shah
Storyline: A terrorist in black checks in to Chandni Chowk on a suicide mission, meets Urdu professor always dressed in white, sees rainbows and undergoes the usual.
Bottomline: Only for the colour-blind.
Yaadein gave us amnesia. It made us forget what Ghai used to be.
Kisna gave us insomnia. Ghai created arguably the worst movie ever made on Hindi screen.
And now, with Black & White, Ghai turns a full-blown terrorist, rabidly threatening to bomb us with bad films year after year.
The film’s flopped, people have been victimised. If this is not suicide-bombing, what is?
First of all all, Mr.Ghai, a terrorist developing a conscience is a beaten-to-death, blown-to-smithereens, bombed to stone-age-kind of a story-idea. It’s been told many times by filmmakers who’ve at least tried to make the narrative innovative.
If you really want us to look beyond black and white and see the different colours in life or film, you need to create characters who show us the hues and by that, we don’t mean you assign that brief to your costume designer.
What we have here are stereotypes: a terrorist whose wardrobe is full of black kurtas (and black shawls to cover himself if he’s wearing anything else) and a professor who can endorse detergent with his flawless white kurtas.
Anurag Sinha gets a nice meaty part for a debut, reminiscent of Vivek Oberoi’s Chandu in Company and Anil Kapoor breathes so much life and poignancy into a cliché that your heart goes out to the fine actor absolutely wasted in this preach-fest (The scene he breaks down has to be one of his finest performances in recent times). The casting apart, Ghai gets nothing right.
Ghai’s general assumption is not only that the mass comprises of low-IQ idiots, he also assumes they are visually challenged and/or that they have a hearing disability. Right from the first scene, he spells it all out, sometimes literally with sub-titles.
No joking, a sequence in the film plays out like this:
An investigating official from the CBI says: This time the terrorists are trying something new. They are sending suicide bombers. Whoa!
Cut to a conversation in a tea-shop where a bunch of fundamentalists are discussing the day’s headlines about police rounding up suspects as our terrorist hero chips in a statement that spells out his angst. Another quotes from the Quran to support hatred and the professor in white enters the scene to quote it in context. He then goes on to explain: “You are probably wondering how come I know so much about the Quran in spite of being Hindu. That’s because I’m Urdu Ke Professor and I’m Quran ke kareeb,” Ghai makes Anil Kapoor say that another two times lest we forget. He then has a supporting character spell it out again as he leaves: If the professor is the ‘zor’ (force) behind Chandni Chawk, his wife is the ‘shor’ (noise).
It predictably cuts to his wife (Shefali putting in an earnest performance) in the middle of a showdown standing up for a girl in the burqa who’s just been dumped by her husband. She orders someone to go fetch the TV-waalon.
No jokes, Ghai actually has a bunch of extras run up to a couple of readily available mediapersons somewhere in the area: “Ai TV-waalon, we have breaking news for you.”
As TV folks rush in to shoot, the professor steps in to tell them to stop all the drama and walks away as the TV crew promptly follows him, hoping to get an insightful byte or two.
Somewhere in there is a poster: Terrorism is a ruthless virus. The more you scream, the more powerful it gets.
Okay, why are we cribbing when he’s made films worse than this? Because, this is not exactly Ghai’s mainstream outing. This is produced by Mukta Arts Searchlight, a division of Mukta Arts that caters to niche tastes.
If this is Subhash Ghai’s brand of art-house cinema, aren’t we glad we have been warned appropriately before his commercial outings: Yuvraaj and Hello Darling?
