'I am the king, he is the emperor': Rajni

The difference between Rajnikanth and Amitabh Bachchan may be just this: Rajni meets his fans the way he is — almost bald with usually unkempt hair.

If you understand this simple approach to life, you can maybe grasp why two of India’s most popular superstars behave the way they do. On celluloid. And in life.

The obvious comparisons between the two are superfluous (see box). Both have tremendous respect for each other. As Sivaji: The Boss released, Amitabh Bachchan said of Rajnikanth: “He is perhaps the most excellent example of what India is all about, what human beings are all about, and what life is all about.” To which, Rajnikanth replied, “I am the king. He (Amitabh) is the emperor.”

Both started their film careers as villains, then became heroes with a tinge of grey, and moved on to play larger-than-life characters that set box-offices on fire. And that is where the road diverged for the two.

While Amitabh, to resuscitate his career, went on to play all kinds of roles — from being one of the protagonists (Mohabbatein)  to walk-on parts (Jhoom Barabar Jhoom) — Rajni has stuck to larger-than-life roles only (Muthu, Badshah, Arunachalam, Padiyappa, Chandramukhi and now Sivaji). Amitabh signed films right, left and centre. He did TV. He did commercials. He diluted his brand equity.

You cannot be a larger-than-life figure if you are in my living room everyday. The aura of exclusivity vamooses. Earlier you had to rush to the loo during a commercial break of an Amitabh flick. Today you rush to the loo when an Amitabh commercial is on air.

The fans of Rajni go berserk because they see so little of him. That is why his movies do better business. Rajni is content earning 15 crores with one film after two years.  Amitabh is hungrier.

He earns much more than Rajni in a year (18 crores approx from 7 films), plus another 30 odd crores from endorsements, plus TV deals, plus stage shows... Yes, Amitabh has to run twice as fast each year to be at the same place. So does Shahrukh Khan.

Unlike Amitabh, Rajni is lucky he can still enact and get away with larger than life roles. Geography has decided Rajni’s place in history. A large part of the audience that watches Rajni’s films resides in small towns (in TN as well as AP, where his films are dubbed).  

These are the people who are desperately looking for heroes to fight their battles. They want heroes who fight corruption and take up issues of roti, kapda, makaan, education and health. In Sivaji: The Boss, Rajni does exactly this.

He answers the people’s call despite being a flamboyant NRI driving around in a Merc. Which is why he connects to the masses like no other contemporary superstar in the Indian film industry. His dialogues in the film may be pithy and funny, but they are hugely political.

Consider this. In Tamil Nadu, Sivaji Ganesan and MG Ramachandran are two of the greatest icons. Rajnikanth’s real name is Shivaji Rao Gaekwad. In Sivaji: the Boss, our hero Sivaji “dies” and makes a startling comeback as MGR (though Rajni in the film says he is MG Ravichandran!)

 And if you have been following the incestuous  world of Tamil politics and cinema, you will not miss this. MG Ramachandran was popularly called Thalaivare (boss).  Don’t be surprised if after the tremendous success of Sivaji: The  Boss, Rajni formally announces his political intention.

For the urban audience — and this  includes Chennai, Matunga, Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur and New Jersey — the thing they love about Rajni is his style and the tongue-in-cheek suspension of belief he demands. Fanboys are convinced it is only a matter of time before Quentin Tarantino or even Frank Miller discover Rajni the Superstar.

The Rajni phenomenon is interesting because it sets the benchmark to be conquered by an aspiring superstar in the Indian film industry. It is going to be the alarm bell that Bollywood’s navel-gazing producers are going to wake up to.

For they have to ask themselves:

At a time when Bollywood is strutting about having ‘arrived globally’, how can a Tamil film be the costliest ever to be  made in India (Sivaji’s approx budget: Rs70 crore) and expect to earn more than Rs100 crore in the  first week?

At a time when Shahrukh Khan and Hrithik Roshan think they are the cat’s whiskers, how can you ever be as flamboyant and stylish as Rajnikanth on screen  and make the entire hall erupt in whistles and cheering? The only one who has come closest is a pirate called Jack Sparrow.

When will an Amitabh, Shahrukh, Hrithik, Aamir or Salman fan club rush to buy tickets of their latest films and ensure block booking for the entire weekend? When will they ever have a film like Sivaji that is house full for the entire week?

And finally, considering how Big B and Shahrukh are warring, how can you be a huge superstar and not have anyone speak ill of you? Everyone who has met or known Rajni always says this: he is a simple and good man. It’s tough to be a superstar like Rajni. In celluloid. And  in life.