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During a casual conversation with fellow film journalists, someone quipped that Vijay is turning out to be the next superstar of the Tamil film industry, which obviously was met with strong denials. A particular argument was immensely compelling. It’s something Tyrion Lannister says towards the end of the show Game Of Thrones which led to ardent fans of the trendsetting series disown it. Of course, it is when the ‘guy who drinks and knows things’ announced Brian Stark as the emperor of the seven (six?) kingdoms. “There’s nothing in the world more powerful than a good story. Nothing can stop it. No enemy can defeat it. And who has a better story than Bran the Broken?” Now, the fellow journalist said, “There’s no one who has a great story as Rajinikanth. A superstar needs a myth. No one else has it.” Here’s how the one line of Rajinikanth‘s biopic will sound: A former bus conductor goes to a new city and in a few decades, he becomes a superstar. It is improbable even for a film. Impossible when the guy continues to hold the title of Superstar at 72.
At Jailer audio launch it was not Rajinikanth who stole the show but the film’s producer Kalanithi Maran. For someone who is regarded as a man of few words, the Sun Pictures founder made some strong claims. “If you ask me if there’s no competition to Rajini sir, there is… there is competition… dear friend Thalapathy Vijay,” said Kalanithi and paused intentionally. The fans went berserk. He continued, “Thalapathy Vijay… once said the biggest competition to Rajinikanth is Sivaji Rao. He is his own competition. There’s no one else.” Kalanithi had to then wait for a while before continuing his speech as Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai turned out to be one of those places Apple Watch deems to be a ‘Loud Environment’. “All actors want to become Superstar. It’s not wrong to have such aspirations. I have only one thing to tell them all. When you are 72, if producers queue up to make your films as they do for Rajini sir (pause again)… on top of that, at that age, if you still have his speed, style, and mass fanbase… you can then claim that you have arrived at Rajinikanth’s place. Till then, there’s only one Superstar in Tamil… no… in India, and that’s Rajinikanth.”
It is still a mystery what makes one a superstar. Ramya Krishnan, in a recent interview, said, “It is beyond us, and there’s no logic to it.” Though it is partly true, it also has to do with the effort of the actor. Once Rajinikanth was asked by his mentor K Balachander if he would be ready to do a small-budget film. Rajini gave a stubborn reply, “I like to only make something big.” While even Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan, a dear friend and inspiration to Rajinikanth, has opted to do character roles, the Tamil superstar always stuck to his ground. Even his local counterpart Kamal Haasan takes up projects like Paapanaasam or Anbe Sivam that didn’t have a big canvas. But Rajinikanth has never settled for anything lesser than a superhero. Even an intense drama like Manichitrathazhu becomes a ‘mass masala’ Chandramukhi when Rajinikanth takes it up. So, it is not all magic.
Also, one cannot afford to be adamant unless he makes it work, and Rajinikanth has always managed to make it work. Except for his last film Annaatthe, Rajinikanth has been successful with his recent ventures keeping his market intact. Looks like that’s going to continue as Jailer’s tickets are already sold out in most theatres for the entire week–a huge achievement in a post-pandemic era. However, what’s magical is his consistency. To do it all again at 72 is magic. To dissect the Rajinikanth phenomenon and reason out the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of it is a futile task. Some people make improbable things probable and impossible ones possible, and we call them superstars.
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