Rajnikanth - a bald, ageing person , a grand father, sporting a saint look in a very simple outfit and having a fashionable Premier Padmini to his name. Yet you come to Tamil Nadu and say his name, be it a youngster, a senior citizen, a house wife, a kid, a baby or anyone for that matter, the reaction is the same and its something that cannot be explained but experienced.
Being a Rajnikanth fan is more than just a unique feeling. It is being a part of a huge world wide group that is driven by a common factor for the love of one extra-ordinary actor and a human being.
Rajnikanth may never get to do a series like Terminator, he may never get Hans Zimmer as the music director of his movie, he may never get a chance to do a role like Will Smith in Pursuit of Happiness or Bruce Willis in Die Hard or Christian Bale in Batman. He may never sport a six pack rock hard abs, he may never perform some daredevil stunt sequence on his own, he may never get to act in an epic adventure like the Lord of the Rings. But the thing about him is, he doesn't have to.
He is Rajinikanth. Period.
It is very common for people to judge his acting, find his style statements funny/childish or feel that the fan following that he commands is over rated. They make the common mistake of seeing things keeping in mind that Rajinikanth is just an actor. But to us, he is something more. People follow many super heroes and go to comic con or a Halloween dressed as a superman or a batman or a wolverine or a iron man. We don't need superheroes to follow. We have Rajinikanth.
There is no particular definition to the phenomenon, that is Rajinikanth. There will never be. Every person will have his/her own version and will be happy about it.
At 63 years he earns more than anyone in the country in his field, gets instant recognition throughout the world and has his birthday celebrated like a festival. He cannot be compared to any other successful people from any field as he has scripted his own fairy tale and is leading a life that everyone wants to but only a very few have led in the past.
Down the years, he might call it quits for the showbiz industry and continue his simple life. But he will never retire from our hearts. Rajnikanth playing the arrogant cop in Moondru Mugam, a robot in Enthiran, a struggling family man from Aarithilirundu Aruvathu and a flamboyant comedy role in Thillu Mullu will be among the best performances ever. His avatar as Basha redefined what a mass entertainer is.
With New Rajinikanth jokes coming up on the internet every day for the past year and gaining popularity among wide(influenced by the Chuck Norris jokes) audience. If someone were to walk along the roads of Chennai and share a Rajinikanth joke with a typical Rajinikanth fan, there is no second thoughts that both of them will have a good laugh about it. After which, when the person moves on, the fan calmly hopes in his/her heart that one day Rajinikanth will do exactly in the joke in real life and make that dumbass(who cracked the joke) look stupid.
If some neutral person comes across this and terms me a crazy fan, I would encourage him/her to watch a Rajinikanth movie at theaters in Tamil Nadu, feel the frenzy and read this post again.
(Rajnikanth songs were played during the whole time of writing this post)
-a humble Rajinikanth fan.
Happy birthday thalaiva !!
"Nee oru thadava sonna, nooru thadava sonna madri"
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