IFFI fetes simple savant Superstar Rajinikanth’s Golden Jubilee of stellar stardom as Kollywood’s iconic idol

S Viswanath

Maharashtrian by birth. Kannadiga by resident vocation. Tamilian by stardom. He is all this and much, much more. Beginning as bus conductor, with strong moorings in theatre, cruising to Chennai to live the life of humble coolie, he, was, however, destined for better success. Become the mesmerising maverick whose very screen presence and pyrotechnics sent his fans into a frenzy.

All of 70 plus he is simply nonpareil. The one and only Super Star. Evergreen. Smiling. Down to earth. The Style King. The Man of the Masses. Baptised Shivaji Rao Gaikwad by his homemaker mother and constable father, the mercurial man still rules the Kollywood Kingdom as the Super Star going by the name of Rajinikanth.

A screen moniker given to him by his mentor who brought him to Tamil filmdom mentoring and moulding him into the mega star he turned out, never tiring, his trademark styles still holding sway, making him yet call time on an illustrious career.

Fifty years in the marquee and still very much the man, the Screen God, his legion of fan following would swear by and swoon over. As the Bard of Icon would describe “Age does not wither, nor custom stale, her (his) infinite variety.”

The youngest of four siblings with two elder brothers (Satyanarayana Rao and Nageshwara Rao) and sister (Aswath Balubhai), young Shivaji Rao Gaikwad received schooling at Gavipuram Government Kannada Model Primary School in Bangalore.

His aspiration towards theatre finding fruition at Ramakrishna Math, a Hindu monastery set up by Ramakrishna Mission, where he took residence. After sixth grade, Rajinikanth, enrolled at Acharya Pathasala Public School studied till his pre-university course, during which time he spent a lot of time acting in plays. His passion for theatre strongly ingrained in him despite the various vocations he took up to earn his livelihood.

The man of inimitable mannerisms. Simple and humble to the core. No airs about himself. His trademark gait and gestures. The flip of the cigarette. The swipe of the hair lock. That quirky smile. The droll dialogue delivery.

He did fifty eons before and still superlatively at it. There has been none in the aura and awe, the respect and reverence, he still evokes and enjoys, from legion of die-hards who still dot and go delirious over him as if he is actually the Messiah residing amidst his admirers. Almost the only persona with the duality of his enigmatic existence who has consciously and skilfully separated his screen and real image and wears both with the comfort of a seasoned. Truly a Thalaiva that his idolators worship and hold dear in their hearts.

Born on 12 December 1950, fifty winters back, the septuagenarian, legendary for his stylised mannerism and one liners, Superstar Rajinikanth’s sojourn began when the doyen of Tamil cinema K Balachander bet his reputation on a young dark man for his 1975 Tamil flick Apoorva Raangal.

That he was pitted against an equally upstart and gawky Kamal Haasan cutting his teeth playing a wee part as blood cancer stricken Pandiyan, arriving almost virtually at the fag end of film’s climax to apologise for having two-timing Bhairavi woman he impregnated and daughter Ranjani as a consequence of the act he deserted, did not matter.

For it seemed, despite the villainous disposition he depicted on reel, Rajnikanth the real man, was destined for super stardom with a maddening cult following that was to follow suit as he scaled, surmounted and strode like a colossus on the Tamil movie marquee.

Despite his almost nondescript insignificant presence tailored with rather subdued, subtle acting, with semblance of mannerisms that was to become him, he was to make a mark on the psyche of the filmgoers with The Hindu praising the newcomer Rajinikanth’s portrayal as that of “dignified and impressive.”

His yen saw him taking acting course in the newly formed Madras Film Institute. An audacious advent aided and assisted by friend and fellow worker Raj Bahadur motivating him to join the famed institution besides financially supporting him during his honing phase while his own family was inimical to this idea.

He then followed it up with celebrated Kannada auteur Puttanna Kanagal’s Kannada anthology Katha Sangama where he played the role of village ruffian who rapes a blind woman in the absence of her husband. A performance that was also much admired and adulated among audiences who saw in the long locks persona the promise of a possible “super star” in the making.

As destiny would have it, neither did he fail himself nor his adulating audiences, and growing fandom, who soon started thirsting and avariciously looking forward to his films.

His signature cigarette flipping style which became his trademark began in Moondru Mudichu which saw him —the first Tamil film to feature him in a prominent role where again he plays the dark character who nonchalantly rows away while his friend drowns accidentally in the lake to fulfil his desire to marry the former’s girlfriend.

It was not until another renowned director Bharathiraja’s directorial debut 16 Vayathinile where again the two polestars of Tamil cinema – Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth – were paired, a combustible and contrasting combination, that became a turning point for the man and thereafter, as they say, there was no looking back for him and his brand of villainy, comedy, derring-do action, mannerisms and dialogue delivery besides the electrifying screen presence he brought on in films after films.

His repertoire of films, of which he has over 170 plus, include Padikkadavan (1985), Velaikaran (1987), Manithan (1987), before Mani Ratnam’s Thalapathi, in 1991, earned him major critical acclaim for his performance.

Likewise, his association with Suresh Krissna saw a flood of super-duper hits in Annaamalai (1992) and Baashha (1995) the other successes being in P Vasu’s Mannan (1992), Uzhaippali (1993) and K S Ravikumar’s Muthu (1995) and Padayappa (1999). Countless indeed.

Bestowed with him Padma Bhushan in 2000 and Padma Vibhushan in 2016, awards and accolades always courted the man and crowned his glittering tiara who was civility to the core and simplicity to a fault. A man who was totally two different personas – on the screen and off it never hiding his true self.

In 2014, he was presented with Indian Film Personality of the Year Award at the 45th IFFI, while he in 2019 he received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award which was presented at 67th National Film Awards presentation ceremony, at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi, Monday, 25 October 2021, the highest Indian award in the field of cinema, for contributions to Indian cinema.

The man, the movie’s mega star, is being honoured and celebrated for completing 50 years of his cinematic journey at the 56th International Film Festival of India and formally felicitated at the closing ceremony of the festival on November 28th.

Besides the formal felicitation IFFI is also presenting a curated pick of five films of the Superstar for fans to walk down the memory lane and relive the actor and his repertoire through them.

The films being screened are daughter Aishwarya Rajinikanth’s Lal Salaam, a convoluted sports action saga, where he plays D G Mohideen, which, however, failed to light up the box office turnstiles. Then you have renowned filmmaker Mani Rathnam’s Thalapathi also featuring Malayalam cinema’s Mammootty, danseuse-actress Shobana, yesteryear Srividya and Arvind Swamy. Rajinikanth plays Surya, orphan, raised in the slums, who fights for the rights of the underprivileged section of society. The film was a critical and commercial success.

There is Suresh Krissna’s Baashha the super-duper formulaic hit flick wherein he plays auto driver Manikam a stylish, swashbuckling and ruthless don, with a calm and docile external disposition, a fact he hides from his father, which pitchforked him to the Demi God status in Tamil filmdom.

The retro also features Nelson Dilipkumar’s Jailer which sees Mollywood’s Mohanlal and Sandalwood’s Shivraj Kumar keeping the Superstar company. Here he plays the titular role of retired cop and jail warden Muthu “Tiger” Pandian on a manhunt to find his son’s killers while playing ball with his sassy, precocious grandson Rithvik.

The quintet of curated retrospective features mega budget mass action sci-fi squeal 2.0 by S Shankar to his earlier highly commercial successful Enthiran or Robot. The film has Rajinikanth playing a triple role as Vaseegaran, Chitti the Robot and Kutti with Bollywood’s Akshay Kumar for company.

S VISWANATH is a veteran film critic who officiates as JURY at several National & International Film Festivals. He deputises as CHIEF CINEMA CURATOR/PROGRAMMER & CREATIVE ADVISOR for Bengaluru International Film Festival (BIFFes). He also curates & advises on the selection of shorts & documentaries for Bengaluru International Short Film Festival (BISFF). Mr Viswanath is the author of “RANDOM REFLECTIONS: A Kaleidoscopic Musings on Kannada Cinema”.