World Star Profiles: Rajinikanth | Golden globes

At the Venice Film Festival in 2015, a documentary entitled For the love of a man created. The subject was a South Indian film star called Rajinikanth and the incredible fandom cult that exists around him. Considered a demi-god by his fans, Rajinikanth, during his four decades of career, has amassed a devout following which is unheard of by Western standards. The film shows several examples. A man displays a receipt from a pawnshop for the sale of his jewelry to fund a fan club event (one of 150,000 such clubs in the world). We show others to watch his films continuously. Its birthday celebrations span 12 days. A printing press only makes posters of them. When Rajinikanth was hospitalized in Singapore, the fans dropped everything to fly there to be near him.

His fans are on a whole different plane than those of Bollywood actors, or many others. (The closest can find a comparison may be Rudolf Valentino whose death has caused the suicide of several fans.) Fans of Rajinikanths bathe his statues of milk the day of the opening of his films. They block cinemas and cause riots if the screenings are exhausted. Companies close Rajinikanth’s premiere day to prevent employees from getting sick. Fans who set off firecrackers in the street and paid thousands of rupees for tickets. They expect the projectionist to stop the film when it first appears so that they can encourage it, while the front row offers prayers for him. His films are paused halfway so that his song and dance numbers can be replayed. And he is still considered SUPERSTAR Rajni with cascading lights or shooting stars surrounding his name.

Rajinikanth is an unlikely star. He is now 69 years old, bald, and has never had the elegant appearance and fair skin color of other Indian movie stars. Part of his popularity seems to be his humility in real life. Unlike Bollywood stars, Rajinikanth is not much seen in public. When he is, he is dressed simply dhoti and rubber chappals, and he doesn’t hide his baldness. He does not produce films one after the other so that each release every two or three years becomes an event. He does not do interviews. It does not make trade recommendations. He quietly gives to charity.

Most of his characters are Everymen who overcome adversity to save people / repair wrongs / get the girl in general Masala films that are both dramatic, half-comic, half-musical. The character he plays is what the fans want and that means adapting each script to his strength by playing a hero who is a man of the people. There are ways, carefully cultivated, to turn cigarettes in his mouth, throw his hair, point his finger and even chew gum with a swagger and style that are generally his. And Rajinikanth is famous for its dialog and punch lines, meticulously designed to be remembered and repeated by admiring fans. A special screen credit is given to its dialogue writers, but it should be noted that this is common in Indian cinema.

Shivaji Rao Gaekwad was born in Bangalore in 1950 and was named after the warrior king Maratha Chhatrapati Shivaji. He was a carpenter, porter and bus manager before starting his acting career on stage, in mythological dramas in his native Kannada language. On the advice of a director, he learned Tamil and quickly became a villain in Tamil cinema. He then appeared in more than 200 Tamil and Malayalam films, as well as in a handful of Bollywood films.

In 2010, he starred in the most expensive Indian film ever made, the techno thriller. Endhiran with Aishwarya Rai, which was the most profitable Indian film until then. It has also been dubbed in Hindi. That year, he was the second highest paid actor in Asia after Jackie chan he earned $ 8.9 million for Endhiran. The online magazine Slate said of him before the release of the film: He is not a simple actor, he is a force of nature. On the screen, when Rajinikanth points his finger, it is accompanied by the sound of a cracking whip. When he becomes furious, the director cuts to a shot of a gorilla hammering his chest or inserts a roaring tiger on the soundtrack. Echo is added to improve its punch dialogues, rhyming pronounced lines during moments of great drama. When I get there, or how I get there, nobody will know, but I will get there when I should, he growls, confused. Or, I will do what I say. I will also do what I don’t say. Then he hits a goon so hard that it flies through the windshield of a minivan and continues through the rear window. I can’t argue with that.

In the last chapter of his life, Rajinikanth announced political ambitions. He started a political party, Rajini Makkal Mandram, where he hopes to play the role of kingmaker for a new wave of young politicians during the 2021 national elections in Tamil Nadu. He said he does not expect to run for chief minister himself.

Rajinikanth has received several honors from the Indian government, including Padma Vibhushan, India’s second highest civilian honor in 2016.