nitish: 2009

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Dr.sivaji ganasan

Acting career

Debut as a lead artist

(Our all-time Great with the Hollywood Greats...

(L to R) Standing:Jim Garner,Jack Lemmon,

Charlton Heston. Sitting:George Chandler,

Sivaji Ganesan, Walter Pidgeon)

Apart from his immense success and reception in Tamil cinema, he has also acted in Hindi-, Telugu-, Malayalam-, Bengali-, and Kannada-language films. Ganesan's first film was the Tamil film Parasakthi in 1952, co-starring actress Pandari Bai. The script for the film was written and directed by the now-Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, M. Karunanidhi. He took his stage name from Emperor Shivaji, one of the roles he had once enacted.

Donning versatile roles
In most of Ganesan's films, he played multiple roles, commercial roles, and roles of a Hindu deity specially the Lord Shiva role. The portryal of Lord shiva in the movie Thiruvilayaadal won him lot of accolades in and around the film industry. In the film Navarathiri (1964), Ganesan donned nine different roles that represented the nine emotional states of a person. Hindi actor, Sanjeev Kumar, was inspired by this film and reprised the nine roles in Naya Din Nayi Raat in 1974. Ganesan could strike a balance between commercial cinema,Mythological cinema and experimental cinema where his contemporaries in the neighbouring Indian state, N. T. Rama Rao and Rajkumar came just near him but could not match him in an apple to apple basis . Sivaji was always unique when compared to other actors in India during his generation. Expert analyst from cinema admitted the three best versatile actors from India at that time are Shivaji, Rajkumar and N. T. Rama Rao. He experimented in films like Thiruvilayaadal, Thiruvarutselvar, Thirumal Perumai, Karnan, Veerapandiya Kattabomman, Thillana Mohanaambal and Raja Rishi. His role in the film Veerapaandiya Kattabomman made him the first South Indian actor recognized outside India in the Afro-Asian film Festival at Egypt. He was also applauded for his acting in the film Aalyamani which was remade later by N. T. Rama Rao.

with MGR, NTR, Gemini Ganesan, Director Sridhar in a meeting in chennai

Appealing to the masses

Sheer variety of Ganesan's roles gave him much acclaim and honour. He co-starred with his counterpart, M. G. Ramachandran in one film, which was Koondukkili. He has worked with many of the leading actresses of his time, including Savithri, Padmini, B. Sarojadevi, K. R. Vijaya and J. Jayalalitha. He also co-starred with other lead actors such as Gemini Ganesan, Muthuraman, M.R.Radha, and many more.
Though he accumulated awards throughout the FIfties and Sixties, it was in 1972 that Ganesan delivered his first all-time blockbuster Vasantha Maaligai. After this film, he was graded as a superstar by distributors. In 1979, he delivered his second and final all-time blockbuster Thirisoolam. After this, he went into semi-retirement signing up cameo roles.

Nearing retirement

In the 1990s, as Ganesan was aging, he co-starred with several other actors. His notable films supporting roles were Veerapaandiyan, Jalli Kattu, Pudhiya Vaanam, Thevar Magan, Pasumpon and En Aasai Raasaave. His last film before his death was Padayappa in 1999 which was also a blockbuster.
Apart from his numerous roles as a single star on screen, Ganesan has acted in supporting roles with many leading actors from different eras. Ganesan has co-starred with M. G. Ramachandran, M. N. Nambiar, Gemini Ganesan, Kamal Haasan, Rajinikanth, Prabhu Ganesan, Sathyaraj, Vijayakanth, Mohanlal, Ramarajan, Y. G. Mahendran, Sivakumar, K. Bhagyaraj, Karthik Muthuraman, Arjun Sarja, Joseph Vijay and Abbas. He has also worked with a vast amount of directors and producers. His legacy continues to be remembered today and is looked upon by many leading film actors.

Death

Suffering from respiratory problems, Ganesan was admitted to the Apollo Hospital in Chennai on July 21, 2001. He also had been suffering from a prolonged heart ailment for about 10 years. He died at 7:45pm (IST) on July 21, 2001 at the age of 73. A documentary, Parasakthi Muthal Padayappa Varai was made to commemorate Sivaji Ganesan's legacy. His funeral was attended by thousands of viewers, polititians and personalities from the South Indian film fraternity.

Legacy

Statue
A statue was erected in Chennai, Tamil Nadu to honour the legendary actor in 2006. It was unveiled by the Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi.

Actors' Day

The former South Indian Film Artistes' Association president Vijayakanth declared that October 1, the birth day of Ganesan, would be observed as Actors' Day in the Chennai film industry.

Domestic popularity

Sivaji Ganesan has remained as the most popular Tamil actor with the most of number of fans. This fact has been confirmed by many independent surveys conducted.

with well wisher MGR at Annai Illam, Chennai
The popular Tamil magazine Kumudam conducted a survey in 1990. Sivaji Ganesan was voted as the most popular actor with 59% votes followed by M. G. Ramachandran (54%), Rajinikanth (51%) and Kamal Haasan (50%). Though the survey was conducted in 1990, when Sivaji Ganesan had almost retired from acting and Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan were rising stars in Tamil cinema.
Few other surveys conducted in a scientific manner have thrown up similar results reaffirming Sivaji Ganesan’s supremacy.

Popularity in the US

During a visit to the U.S. in June 1995, Sivaji Ganesan found himself in Columbus, Ohio. Mayor Greg Lashutka named him honorary citizen of Columbus at a special dinner.
In 1962, Ganesan toured the U.S., where he was given the honour of being the mayor of Niagara City for one day. He along with the former Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru were the only two Indians to be honoured this way.
When actor Marlon Brando visited India, he was shown film footage of Sivaji Ganesan. From then on Brando admired Sivaji Ganesan for his acting style. He also admitted that "Sivaji Ganesan may act like me but I cannot act like Sivaji Ganesan

Awards and honours

Légion d'honneur

Sivaji Ganesan's most prestigious award was the 'Chevalier' in 1995, awarded by the National Order of the Legion of Honour in France. This is one of the main decorations of the French Republic which is conferred to honour the most original and talented personalities, for their remarkable contributions in the field of Arts and Literature in France and all over the world. On April 22, 1995, at a ceremony held at the MCA Stadium, Chennai, Sivaji Ganesan was presented the Chevalier title and medallion by the French Ambassador to India, Philip Petit. J. Jayalalitha, the entire Tamil film industry and representatives of all other Indian regional film industries were present at the ceremony.

Other awards

Afro-Asian Film Festival Best Actor Award, 1959
Padma Shri, 1966
Padma Bhushan, 1984
National Film Award - Special Jury Award for Thevar Magan, 1993
Chevalier (Knight of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, France), 1995
Dadasaheb Phalke Award, 1996
Kalaimamani, 1997
NTR National Award, 1998
Honourary doctorate

actor surya

Original Name Saravanan
Date of Birth 23rd July,1975
Native Coimbatore
Family Father-Sivakumar; Sister- Brindha;Brother-Karthik Wife- Jyotika; Daughter-Diya

College B.Com (Loyola Chennai)
Career Film actor
Favourite food Dosa, curd rice

Surya married actress Jyothika Saravanan on September 11, 2006[2]. In 2007, the couple's daughter Diya was born.

Agaram Foundations:

In 2008, Surya began the Agaram Foundations working to help children who drop out of school early in Tamil Nadu. With the Ministry of Education in Tamil Nadu, he created a short commercial video outlining child poverty, labour and lack of education, titled Herova? Zerova?. The film was written and produced by Sivakumar and also starred Joseph Vijay, R. Madhavan and Jyothika Saravanan

Sunday, June 14, 2009

universal hero

Kamal Haasan made his film debut as a 6-year-old child artiste, in the film Kalathur Kannamma, which was released on August 12, 1959, directed by A. Bhimsingh. He was cast along with the veteran Tamil actor Gemini Ganesan in the film, which won him the National Film Award for Best Child Artist. He acted as a child actor in five other Tamil films in the subsequent few years co-starring with Sivaji Ganesan and M. G. Ramachandran.
Following a nine year hiatus from films, to concentrate on his education, Haasan returned with a series of low budget films in 1972, in all of which he played supporting roles. These films included roles in Arangetram and Sollathaan Ninaikkiren, both co-starring Sivakumar. His final supporting role before establishing himself as a lead actor was in Naan Avanillai.

Late 1970s – 1980s

Kamal Haasan first received a regional Filmfare Award for acting for his role in the Malayalam film Kanyakumari (1974). In the next four years, he won six regional Best Actor Filmfare Awards, including four consecutive Best Tamil Actor Awards. He acted in director K. Balachander's Apoorva Raagangal, an exploration of age-gap relationships. The late 1970s was a period that saw Kamal Haasan's frequent collaboration with K. Balachander, who also cast him in many of his socially-themed films such as Avargal (1977). The film won Haasan his first Filmfare Best Tamil Actor Award. In 1976, Haasan appeared in the drama Moondru Mudichu with Rajinikanth and Sridevi, another K. Balachander film, Manmadha Leelai, and Oru Oodhappu Kan Simittugiradhu, which won him his second consecutive Best Actor Award. 16 Vayathinile won him his third consecutive award, where he appeared as an mentally ill villager, once again alongside Rajinikanth and Sridevi. The fourth consecutive award came with Sigappu Rojakal in which he appeared as an anti-hero who is a psychopathic sexual killer. In the late seventies, Haasan appeared in other films such as the comedy, Ninaithale Inikkum and the horror film, Neeya.
Haasan's pairing with the actress Sridevi continued with Guru and Varumayin Niram Sigappu in 1980. Kamal Haasan also made guest–cameo appearances, such as in the Rajnikanth film Thillu Mullu; Rajinikanth had previously appeared in some of Kamal Haasan's previous films. Haasan's 100th career film appearance was in 1981's Raja Paarvai, which also marked his debut in film production. Despite this film's relatively poor reception at the cinemas, his portrayal of a blind session violinist earned him a Filmfare Award. His next acting role, in Ek Duuje Ke Liye, became his first Hindi-language film. It was the remake of his previous Telugu-language film, Maro Charithra by K. Balachandar. Following a year of starring in commercially-oriented films, Haasan won his first of three National Awards for Best Actor with his portrayal of a school teacher who looks after a mentally retarded girl in Balu Mahendra's Moondram Pirai. In 1983, Haasan appeared in Thoongadhey Thambi Thoongadhey playing a double role.
Till 1985, Haasan began to appear in more Hindi language films, including Saagar, for which he was awarded both the Filmfare Best Actor Award and the Best Supporting Actor Award, making him the first actor to win both awards for a single film. Saagar portrayed him alongisde Rishi Kapoor both of whom were pinning for a woman, but Haasan ultimately loses out. Haasan also appeared in Geraftaar. He featured in Tamil cinema's first sequel Japanil Kalyanaraman, which followed up his previous, Kalyanaraman as well as acting in Uruvangal Maralam co-starring Sivaji Ganesan and Rajinikanth.
In the mid-1980s, Haasan appeared in two Telugu language films, Sagara Sangamam and Swathi Muthyam with director, Kasinadhuni Viswanath. The latter film was India's representative for the Academy Award for the Best AAAA BDBForeign Language Film in 1986. Whilst, the former film portrayed Haasan as a drunkard classical dancer, Swathi Muthyam portrays him as an autistic person attempting to change society. Following Punnagai Mannan, in which he portrays dual roles including a satire of Charlie Chaplin and Vetri Vizha as an amnesiac, Haasan appeared in Mani Rathnam's 1987 film Nayagan. Nayagan portrays the life of an underworld don in Bombay. The story revolves around the life of a real-life underworld don called Varadarajan Mudaliar, whilst sympathetically depicting the struggle of South Indians living in Mumbai. Haasan received a Indian National Award for his performance and Nayagan was nominated by India as its entry for the Best Foreign Language Film for the Academy Awards in 1987 as well as being included in the Time top 100 movies list. In 1988, Haasan appeared in his only silent film to date; appearing in the black comedy, Pushpak. In 1989, Haasan played a triple role in Apoorva Sagodharargal. The commercial film portrayed him in a role as a dwarf. He then attempted dual roles in Indrudu Chandrudu and its Tamil remake, winning the regional Best Actor Award for his performance.

The 1990sMichael Madhana Kamarajan in 1991 saw Haasan go one step further, acting in four different roles as quadruplets, the film started an ongoing collabaration for comedy films between Haasan and Crazy Mohan, a dialogue writer. Haasan won successive best actor awards for his portrayal of the protagonist in Guna and in Thevar Magan, where he played the son of actor, Sivaji Ganesan. After films such as Singaravelan, Maharasan and Kalaignan; Haasan began to appear in comedies such as Sathi Leelavathi, based on the English film She-Devil, as well as renewing his collobaration with Kasinadhuni Viswanath in his last Telugu language film till date, Subha Sankalpam. In 1996, Haasan starred in the police story, Kuruthipunal. His success in Kuruthipunal, was followed by his third National Film Award for Best Actor in Indian. Playing dual roles of a freedom fighter and his untrustful son, the film also won Haasan regional awards and plaudits for his portrayal.
Haasan appeared as a woman in Avvai Shanmughi. In 1997, Haasan began his first directorial venture, the biopic of Mohammed Yusuf Khan, Marudhanayagam which failed to complete its schedules with only half an hour and a trailer being recorded during its shoot.[citation needed] Haasan soon made his debut as director with a remake of Avvai Shanmughi in Hindi titled Chachi 420.

Following a two-year hiatus in Indian cinema, Haasan opted against reviving his magnum opus, Marudhanayagam, and filmed his second directorial venture, Hey Ram, a period drama told in flashback with a semi-fictional plot centering around India's Partition and the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. Haasan also took on roles as the writer, the lyricist and the choreographer as well as producing the film under his home banner. His following film was Aalavandhan, where he portrayed two distinct roles, for one of which he had his head tonsured and gained ten kilograms,.
Following a series of comedies in Thenali, Panchathantiram and Pammal K. Sambandam and a couple of guest appearances, Haasan directed his third feature film in Virumaandi, a film about the death penalty. Haasan also appeared in Anbe Sivam alongside Madhavan. Priyadarshan, who started the film, departed allowing commercial director Sundar C to complete the film. Anbe Sivam told the story of Nallasivam, enacted by Haasan as an idealist, social activist and communist. Kamal Haasan's performance was highly lauded by critics with The Hindu stating that Haasan "has once again done Tamil cinema proud".[citation needed]
Haasan appeared in the remake film Vasool Raja alongside Sneha. In 2006, Haasan's long delayed project, Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu[4] emerged. Gautham Menon's Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu was Haasan's first cop film since Kuruthipunal. In 2008, Haasan delivered Dasavathaaram playing ten roles. Pairing opposite Asin Thottumkal, Haasan reprises ten roles in the film. The film, which Haasan had to go to court to sort out story legalities, was released in June 2008.
Following the completion of Dasavathaaram, Haasan opted to direct his fourth directorial venture, with a film tentatively titled Marmayogi. Currently, prior to Marmayogi, Haasan is producing and starring in a quick venture, titled Unnaipol Oruvan, co-starring him with Mohanlal which is said to mark Haasan's fiftieth year of acting. Kamal Haasan's daughter Shruthi Haasan is the music composer of Unnaipol Oruvan.

Awards and honours

National Film Awards

1960 — Best Child Artist for Kalathur Kannamma
1982 — Best Actor Award for Moondram Pirai
1987 — Best Actor Award for Nayagan
1996 — Best Actor Award for Indian

Filmfare Awards

1986 — Best Actor Award for Saagar
1998 — Best Story Award for Virasat

Tamil

Tamil Nadu State Film Awards
1996 — Best Actor Award for Indian
2006 — Best Actor Award for Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu

India's jackson

Prabhu Deva born April 3, 1973 is an Indian dancer, choreographer, actor and film director. He has been called "India's Michael Jackson" for his fast-paced dance movements, though he has given performances in a wide range of dancing styles.
While he is mainly involved in Tamil cinema, he has also contributed to filmmaking in other Indian film industries, including Telugu cinema, Kannada cinema, and Hindustani cinema. He has won a number of awards for his elaborate dance sequences, including two National Awards for Best Choreography (holding the record for the most Best Choreography awards alongside Saroj Khan), a Filmfare Best Choreography Award, and a Filmfare Best Choreography Award (Telugu). He has also won a Best Director award for the film Pokkiri.

simbu

The good dancer but head weighted

red cross

During the first world war in 1914, India had no organization for relief services to the affected soldiers, except a branch of the St. John Ambulance Association and by a Joint Committee of the British Red Cross. Later, a branch of the same Committee was started to undertake the much needed relief services in collaboration with the St. John Ambulance Association in aid of the soldiers as well as civilian sufferers of the horrors of that great war. A bill to constitute the Indian Red Cross Society, Independent of the British Red Cross, was introduced in the Indian Legislative Council on 3rd March 1920 by Sir Claude Hill, member of the Viceroy's Executive Council who was also Chairman of the Joint war Committee in India . The Bill was passed on 17th March 1920 and became Act XV of 1920 with the assent of the Governor General on the 20th March 1920 .
On 7th June 1920 , fifty members were formally nominated to constitute the Indian Red Cross Society and the first Managing Body was elected from among them with Sir Malcolm Hailey as Chairman.
Indian Red Cross Society is a member of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. Relations between the IRCS and the India Delegation of the Federation are strong.
Indian Red Cross Society has partnership with National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, St.John Ambulance, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (IFRC), International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC ), Multinational firms. Individuals and others in supporting IRCS activities. It also coordinates with Indian Government and other agencies ( UNDP, WHO etc )

PM

After the Indian National Congress won the 2009 general elections, Singh was reappointed as the Prime MinisterThe 2004 general elections, Singh was unexpectedly declared as the Prime Ministerial candidate of the Indian National Congress–led United Progressive Alliance. He was sworn in as the prime minister on May 22, 2004, along with the First Manmohan Singh Cabinet. During its five year term, Singh's administration largely focused on reducing government fiscal deficit, providing debt relief to poor farmers and advancing pro-industry economic and tax policies.
of India on May 22, 2009, making him the first Indian Prime Minister since Jawaharlal Nehru to return to power after completing a full five-year term.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

TAMIL NADU ULTIMATE STAR

ajith is a real hero

Monday, June 1, 2009

katrina

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

super star

Rajini, the real mantra of Tamil Nadu. There are fan associations across Tamil Nadu dedicated to him. Many more than for any other Tamil star, past or present. Rajinikanth, the carpenter-turned-coolie-turned-conductor-turned Super Star says: “I couldn’t have asked God for more.” A bit of a recluse, Rajni may be. But everyone who’s had the privelege of a darshan with the thalaivar has come away with a spring in his step and a warm glow in the heart. Warm, friendly and affable, he’s the sort who deserves all the superstardom he’s earned. Such men, indeed, are rare...
It’s been 25 years, believe it or not, since the Periya Thalaivar (big boss) made his debut with an inconsequential role in a Tamil film. From villain and antihero to blockbuster supernova, the gifted actor has made the most of every outing. And he’s deserved every bit of the success. SCREEN analyses why...
It's a wide angle shot. A man is seen opening a gate, dressed in rags and smoking a beedi. A terminally ill disease writ large on his face. Precisely on that frame appears the Sanskrit term shruthi bedham, coupled with an off screen voice, an undoubtedly inauspicious start to any debutante’s first screen appearance, especially in the maiden frame.
The film was Apoorva Raagangal (1975). The film itself was thick in controversy, and nobody took notice of the young newcomer, who was on screen barely for fifteen minutes, muttered a few apologetic words to the wronged woman and ultimately died an unsung, unheroic death.
No one in the audience, even in his wildest imagination, would have thought this nondescript man, who had won the least attention in the film would ever win over millions of hearts in Tamil Nadu. Or ride the state like a colossus. Or even that his sway over the masses would be so intense that he could rewrite the fate of Tamil Nadu politics, exactly two decades after the release of his first film.
K Balachander, the director who has an uncanny knack of creating stars, first met Rajnikant at the film institute, where he was a student. Balachander glanced at the dark young man and crisply asked him to meet him in his office the next day. When Rajnikant walked into his office gingerly, Balachander informed him he was going to act in his next film. Overwhelmed by the sudden offer from a ‘big’ director, Rajnikant just could not believe his ears. It’s a feeling Rajni still recounts whenever in the mood of reminiscence.
Later, Balachander confided in his close friend and associate Ananthu, “Watch out! There is a fire in the young man’s eyes. One day he will take Tamil Nadu by storm.” How true the prediction turned out!
Producers went all out to capitalise on this new “wonder” called Rajnikant, and a string of films projecting him as an anti-hero, with all his stylish mannerisms in full swing, were released in quick succession. Rajni had, by now, become an indisputable star in his own right, a force to reckon with.
Though Rajnikant persistently refers to K Balachander as his “guru”, it was director SP Muthuraman who actually revamped Rajni’s image entirely. Muthuraman first experimented with him in a positive role in Bhuvana Oru Kelvikkuri, as a villain in the first half and a refined man in the second, accepting a woman with a child ditched by her lover. The success of Bhuvana Oru Kelvikkuri prompted SPM to make a mushy melodrama with Rajni as a hero sacrificing everything for his siblings, a role ideally tailormade for Sivaji Ganesan! That film was Arulirunthu Arupathu Varai, in which Rajni’s mannerisms were totally missing and he even appeared as an old man in the last few frames. Even while the film was in the making, Rajni had misgivings about whether the audience would accept him in tear jerkers of this kind. But the film got made and its box-office success made Rajni popular among women audiences, too. These two films were a turning point in Rajni’s career — he changed from an actor who merely enthralled the audiences, to one who also made them weep. The acceptance of Rajni sans his mannerisms proved he’d at last become an actor from a star. Around this time came Mullum Malarum, directed by J Mahendran, which established Rajni as a hero with a slight tinge of the negative.
Rajnikant’s entry may have been humble, in an insignificant role but the success he achieved in a very short span was unimaginable. A popular Tamil magazine brought out a special supplement at a time when his still on the make, and, he presto, the magazine’s sales doubled with that issue alone.
Such mass adulation, the thunderous rain of applause when Rajni delivered his lines, all put together, made him a phenomenon. It was at this point that Rajni realised the onus had been thrust on him. The fate of producers hinged on him alone. This sudden exposure to the glare of the media and the popularity and money he never imagined would be his, created a lot of stress in his mind. At that crucial time in his career when his market price had just begun to zoom, he decided to opt out of films completely, sending shock waves to his fans. Balachander, Kamalhaasan and his other well-wishers somehow, coaxed him into staying on.
The second phase of his life started with K Balaji’s Billa, a superhit disproving the canard spread by detractors that Rajnikant was “finished”. He was accepted as a full-fledged hero. Billa was followed by a row of hits like Pokkiri Raja, Thanikkattu Raja, Naan Mahaan Alla and the all-important Moondru Mugham, in which Rajni essayed a triple role. Even two decades after its release, the last continues to be a box-office draw and Rajni’s fans can never tire of the thalaivar’s verbal clash with villain Senthamarai. K Balachander’s first home production, Nettrikkam proved to be yet another milestone in Rajni’s career.
An analysis of Rajni’s career graph shows a remarkable absence of fits and starts. It has been a slow and steady rise to the very top. As Rajni sings in a hit song from Badshah, a man’s life may be divided into eight divisions. Rajni’s own career may be divided into three segments. The first as a villain, the second as a hero with negative traits, and the third and present phase, as the reigning czar of Tamil filmdom. With Rajni’s films fetching crores and his market price skyrocketing, the costs of production of his films became unmanageable. And Rajni has since had to stick to a one film per year formula, sometimes, he could do a film once in two years.
The new trend where his films’ collections exceed normal regional film expectations started off with Badshah, followed by Annamalai, Arunachalam, Ejaman, Muthu and Padayappa. It’s now an accepted fact that only a Rajnikant film can break records set by his own films.
As an actor, Rajnikant’s greatest asset, apart from his style is his sense of humour and comic timing. Like Amitabh Bachchan is popular for his drunken soliloquies, Rajnikant is famous for his comic encounters with snakes, repeated umpteen times.
In the early 80s, Rajnikant made a foray into Bollywood with Andhaa Kanoon, a superhit. But Rajnikant could not concentrate on Hindi films because he was already safely ensconced down South. He still made a few films in Hindi, to mention specially Chaalbaaz which had Sridevi in a dual role. Rajni also enjoys a special kind of popularity in Telugu films and his Peddarayudu (remake of Tamil hit Nattammai) seems to have broken all previous records. The Telugu version of Padayappa has been a money-spinner, too. Rajnikant became a trendsetter recently with his Muthu and its songs becoming a rage in Japan and now, Padayappa running to packed houses in the UK and USA.
Basically a religious person, Rajnikant has always owned up his faith. “I was brought up by the Ramakrishna Mission and it’s from there that I have inherited this religious frame of mind,” he keeps saying. Even his films have him openly sharing his faith. In Arunachalam he mouths that famous line, “God decides and Arunachalam executes it.” His public meetings are always spiced with humour and embellished with anecdotes from mythology.
Married to Lata, an English literature graduate, hailing from an elite Iyengar family in 1980, Rajni has two daughters who are carefully kept away from the limelight. Lata herself a versatile singer, now runs a school called The Ashram. The couple indulges in a lot of charity, the latest being converting his Raghavendra Kalyana Mandapam into a charitable trust to help the poor and needy.
Ego and starry airs are unknown to Rajnikant. During breaks he hardly ever rushes to his air-conditioned makeup room. Instead, he prefers to sleep on the sets, even without a pillow, merely covering his eyes with a wet cloth. He never comes to functions with a retinue behind him and even prefers to drive his own car.
Rajnikant’s phenomenal success and his sway over the masses make people speculate whether he will follow the footsteps of the late MGR and enter politics. Though there has been a lot of pressure on him to enter politics by the likes of actor turned journalist, Cho Ramaswamy (“Rajnikant is the best choice for chief ministership because he has a basic integrity and simplicity, a quality which is very rare these days”) Rajnikant has persistently maintained a diplomatic silence, except for the fact that he openly supported the ruling DMK in the last assembly elections and discreetly in the recent Lok Sabha elections. When pressed, Rajnikant answers in his own inimitable style, “Yesterday I was a conductor, today I’m a star, tomorrow what I’ll be only He knows!”
A bit of a recluse, he may be at heart, but everyone who’s had the privilege of a darshan with the thalaivar has come away with a spring in his step, and a warm glow in his heart. Warm, friendly and affable, he’s the sort who deserves all the superstardom he’s earned. Such men, indeed, are rare.

nitish

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