| Published on 16-06-2007 In Entertainment | | Viewed 9571 times | Written by S. Murari | | |
Who's the boss, the Big B or Rajni? That was the hot topic of a snap poll conducted by a 24/7 English television channel on the day of the release of much-awaited and greatly hyped latest blockbuster, Sivaji, the BOSS. The anchor person drooled that tickets had been sold out for dayson end in Chennai. He asked his reporter, a girl with a big smile stationed outside a cinema in Bangalore in a live telecast, for audience reaction, including repeat of Rajni's so-called punch dialogues. As if that was not enough, another TV reporter buttonholed Rajni at the Chennai airport on his return from Hyderabad after the special show he had arranged for Telugu Desam leader N Chandrababu Naidu, to say a punchline. A third one promised a clinical analysis of Rajni phenomenon. I never got to see it.
Not that I have missed anything. Mind you, these were not Tamil, but English channels with an all-India audience. Were they so starved of news that they had to make a mountain out of a molehill?
It's been 30 years since Rajni made his debut in Tamil films. Like Amitabh, he showed good acting potential in his early movies. Zanjheer was the undoing of Amitabh. His role as an angry young man made the Hindi film world typecast him for the rest of his life until he became an angry old man. In between, he tried his hands at comic role like in Amar, Akbar, Antony.
For Rajni, the rise to stardom and downfall in quality acting started with his parting of ways with Kamal. It was a conscious decision taken by both. Soon, Rajni carved a role for himself as a kind of MGR without preachiness.
Ever since he was branded a super-star a few years ago, his larger-than-life film persona is taking a toll on him. SO much so, he has become a prisoner of his own image. Expectations reach new high with each movie. After the flop of Baba and the unprecedented success of Chandramukhi has come Sivaji, the BOSS.
The product of a rare combination of Rajni, big ticket director Shankar and of course A R Rahman, besides renowned production house AVM, it has naturally led to such "enlightened" debate in the media like why Sivaji and who is the BOSS. And Shankar is ready with the answers. Sivaji is short for Sivaji Rao, Rajni's real name. It also refers to one of Tamil films' all-time greats Sivaji Ganesan and of course, the Maratha warrior. Since Boss, like Godfather, has a mafia connotation, Shankar has another ingenious explanation. It is an acronym meaning Bachelor of Social Service. Yuck.
The media is full of stories about Rajni mania sweeping Tamil Nadu. Reports say the film is set to wow Chinese and Malay in Hong Kong while the Japanese, who have fallen for the hero after Muthu, will have to wait a while for Sivaji. In the new media war, the yet-to-be-launched Kalaignar TV has worsted Sun TV by buying TV rights of Sivaji. Rajni has become Holy Cow.
The PMK, which took him on after the release of Baba for glamourising smoking and drinking in his films, has chosen to ignore him now. Thankar Bachan, whose Pallikoodam (School) is awaiting release for the past couple of months (adding to the debts of producers) blames it all on the media. He says anyone can enter politics.
But let Rajni and Vijayakanth first give a good film before taking a shot at good governance. Prakash Raj, who is committed to good films and who is even more outspoken, has said he can tolerate ignorance, not idiocy. In a stinging criticism of Tamils' penchant for hero worship, he says that a man who cannot afford even a glass of milk for his family but who pours litres of milk on his hero's cutouts ought to be in an asylum.
Such sycophancy is a peculiar trait of Tamils. In fact, Dravidian politics is rooted in personality cult. Of course, neighbouring States also had such cult figures. In Andhra Pradesh, N T R was catapulted to power soon after he formed the Telugu Desam. But he rode to power, not on the strength of his popularity in films, but on the hurt pride of the Telugus. Neither Rajkumar in Karnataka nor Prem Nazir in Kerala could contemplate a plunge into politics because even their mad fans made a distinction between the real and reel lives.
MGR was a different phenomenon altogether. He never had political ambitions, though he was elected MLC and MLA. In his formative years, he needed the Dravidian platform as the base for his films. At one stage, he transcended it and created a massive fan following of his own that cut across party lines. Annadurai knew how to make use of him. Mr Karunanidhi made the blunder of sending him out for fear that he might emerge as a future threat to him. The rest, as they say, is history.
People who know Rajni or who have worked with him say one of his endearing attributes is his modesty. Success has not gone to his head. It was seen in his response to camparisons with Amitabh. He said, "There is no comparison, Amitabh is my guru". It is the people around him who put him on a pedestal because he is not only a Holy Cow but also a Cash Cow. At the same time, he is not as naive as he appears to be.
In 1991, when Tamils were driven out of Karnataka during the Cauvery riots, he did not raise his voice. When the issue flared up again a few years ago and Bharathi Raja led a march to Neyveli, Rajni chose to go on a fast for inter-linking of rivers. When Rajkumar was abducted, he sent a message through Nakkeeran Gopal. The Tamil militant groups then put up posters in Salem pointing out that blood is thicker than water and he was concerned because he wanted to protect his investments in Karnataka.
Note how studiously Rajni has avoided Karnataka after the release of Sivaji. He arranged special screening for Mr Karunanidhi and Mr Chandrababu Naidu, but not for Mr Kumarasamy. That is because a Kannada chauvinistic outfit, which has directed that Tamil films should be screened in Karnataka only four weeks after their release in Tamil Nadu, has not taken kindly to the release of Sivaji. Never mind that Rajni is Sivaji Rao, a son of Bengaluru. They showed the same anger against Prakash Raj's Mozhi.
At the height of the last Cauvery row, Rajni bemoaned: "I don't know where I belong. In Chennai, they call me a Kannadiga. In Bengaluru, they say I am a Marathi. Mumbaikars see me as a Madarasi".
Tamil Nadu may be the land of Dravidian parties known for their linguistic chauvinism. But the people are ready to welcome anyone who makes it their home. So Rajni can rest easy. But should the Tamils make demi-gods of film heroes and political personalities?
In the 1990s, R K Laxman came out with a cartoon in Times of India in which an air passenger looks out of his plane's window, sees a sky-high cutout of Jayalalitha staring him in the face and says, "Ah, we are nearing Chennai". Perhaps, Rajni is yet to reach such dizzy heights. But then, we have had a temple for Khushboo. Periyar must be turning in his grave.
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