RAJNI THE BOSS A PHENOMENON SUPER STAR TURNING SIXTY TODAY – A TRIBUTE AND SALUTE TO HIM

The Super Star – the unparalleled person of our generation - name itself conveys too many things to too many individuals. All will of course agree with me at 60 he is still strong on screen with a following the world over He has in left behind the popular heroes of yesteryears like Hollywood John Wayne, Sean Connery – the James Bond –Sylvester Stallone and the likes and the Bollywood heroes like the Big B Amitabh Bachan and the he man Dharmendra who ruled the rostrum at Bollywood. He did pride to all of us by earning and still retaining the ‘super star’ title and Kollywood in particular over three decades and counting still.
Turning 60 today one will like to look at his career path – Billa [1980] which earned this title Super Star to the technical excellence Enndiran today – not a soft walk this He should have had met many a phenomenon in the over zealous and jealous tinsel world where like the Indian frogs no one would see someone climbing the ladder and worse still retaining position there. This can only be achieved by an excellent disposition and deportment to hold all in sway even today. He was perhaps the only one – or may be one amongst the few – I have known to have accepted failure of one of his films [Baba] and giving back the money to the industry – be to distributors/producers theatre owners. There was no necessity for any actor to give back the money but it was Rajni who broke the rule and was magnanimous enough to do this fete.
At 60, the man of the masses , a face of inspiration, appeals to generations without fail, because of his constant reinvention. As Balachander once said this seat of a Super Star can never be succeeded by any one but by the one and the only RAJNI. On the same stage, as is common with him, RAJNI said that this seat is only a transition and can be occupied by any one in the years to come. This shows RAJNI’s simplicity and broad minds but I tend to subscribe to Balachander than RAJNI as there cannot not be one who appeal to the masses like what RAJNI has – from children to the aged all at a time in equanimity.
60 year old RAJNI off screen always looks for the pulse of the people to continuously run the wheels of reinvention and style - a perfect transformer. His inspiration, as he has said, was Shatrugun Sinha of Bollywood whose stylish ways of acting he has always was interested in and observed with awe. On the sets, we were told, he was an inspiration to his co-artists too, which again is a laudable think few of us practice but preach more. Do we tolerate our colleagues like that – a thought to ponder.
Sixty year old was the man who gave films like Baasha – one amongst few films which has scores and scores of repeated audience. True even today I get gloved whenever this film is telecast on the visual medium the Television. Not to talk the rest of the films like Arunachalam, Annamalai, Guru Sishyan to name a few. It is not a joke to move up to this stardom by a Conductor and that he would only know the trial and tribulations he has had undergone to come to this stature of a phenomenon – perhaps next to the ever green and hero worship in the legendary M G R.
Even at 60, RAJNI is considered a man of simplicity and of high human value. To further subscribe to this I need to say something on him too which I have heard from a friend of mine who was associated with ASHRAM a innovative school run by his family. It happened a few years back when my friend was working there They were doing a catalogue /brochure for the ASHRAM and work spilled over to the wee hours that day Past one am RAJNI came in his new car – just registered that day - to ASHRAM and was very surprised to see people working that time He asked them to pack off and asked his driver to drop them home in his newly registered car saying that it is our responsibility to ensure that people working with us are taken care of fully and he just waited there at the school lying on the floor with his right hand under his head as pillar. A thing we cannot comprehend of a man at that stature – a great man that he is.
Sixty years RAJNI in another incident - which I always make it a point to keep saying again and again to people as I adore him for it - is that he was sitting as a beggar at the Raghavendra Temple when a lady dropped Rs 2 as alms to that beggar. After taking the alms he just worshipped the presiding deity Raghavendra and left the temple on his luxurious car. The lady who gave alms was surprised and learnt that, that was the phenomenon Super Star RAJNI. She asked him why did he sit as a beggar at the temple, to which he said that we should remember and realize that were are always a ‘beggar in front of Him and pray for alms of His good wishes”. A thing I fully subscribe too and great to realize that this is one of the similarities I probably share with him.

I close this saying Hats Off to him and standing in Salute to him – Do I see you joining me ??? Let us wish him all the best and pray God to bestow His good wishes on him in the years to come and give him joyous moments with his family.