Indian cinema has always been synonymous with escapism. Or, at least largely so with picture postcard locales, mesmeric music, vibrant dances and lovely people. It is thence only natural that film heroes and heroines are not just adored but placed on pedestals and revered.Sometimes temples are built for them, and when actors turn politicians, they carry with them their celluloid halos, enslaving their electorates.
This is a phenomenon that is particularly strong in southern India, where Dravidian political parties have been using movies to spread their ideologies, capturing the imagination of the masses.Tamil Nadu’s onetime Chief Minister, MG Ramachandran, acted out the Dravidian dogma, endearing in the process to the poor and socially downtrodden.In neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, NT Ramarao slipped into mythological characters – like Rama and Krishna – and transformed himself into an epitome of godliness, eventually winning hearts and votes.
However, there have been exceptions. Some actors did not either take the political path or divine direction, and yet attracted a kind of appeal that defied logic and rationale.Tamil superstar Rajnikanth is the man I am talking about. Now recuperating in Singapore after a long illness (and nobody knows what it was, for the family will not tell us, nor will his doctors), he has to complete “Rana”, a historical action movie, now on the floors.
In fact, he fell sick when he was shooting for “Rana” in Chennai and had to be rushed to hospital, and later shifted to Singapore for more specialised medical treatment.Rajnikanth, who plans to return to Chennai soon to finish “Rana”, has the biggest fan following in India, possibly only next to what Ramachandran had when he was alive. One may be surprised to note that neither Amitabh Bachchan nor Kamal Hassan enjoy that kind of adulation.
Some time ago, when Rajnikanth’s “Endhiran: The Robot” opened in 2,000 screens the world over, about 500 in Tamil Nadu alone, the fan frenzy took over. Wooden cutouts of the 60-plus-year old star were anointed with milk and honey, and garlanded with fresh flowers.Pujas were performed and crackers burst in a show of not just joy, but sheer solidarity that the people, especially the have-nots, shared with him.
Close to the common man
The society’s downtrodden see the star as a superb success story. Born as Shivaji Rao Gaekwad in Bengaluru (Bangalore) to Marathi parents, Rajnikanth lost his mother when he was barely five, and spent much of his youth working as a coolie and later as a bus conductor in that city.A friend and co-worker helped Rajnikanth secure admission in the Madras Film Institute in the early 1970s.
He got his first break in 1975 with a K Balachander film, “Apoorva Raagangal”. It was only J Mahendran’s 1978 “Mullum Malarum” that gave him the star tag.Yet, when P Vasu made “Kuselan” in 2008, which almost seemed like Rajnikanth’s own story, it crashed. So too some of his other works. But failures never seemed to diminish the brightness of the aura around him.
A large part of this craze can be attributed to his immense modesty (despite his exceptional rise in life) tempered with remarkable self-assuredness. He is absolutely uncaring about how he looks off screen. (Ask Amitabh Bachchan or Kamal Hassan to do that, and they would wince at this prospect.).He never hides his bald pate under a wig, never tries to greasepaint his dark skin into a lighter shade. Which is quite unlike any other star, who must always be seen as handsome and impeccably turned out.
Such unpretentiousness on Rajnikanth’s part obviously takes him closer to the common man, who finds it comfortable to identify with his hero.Of course, on the screen, Rajnikanth’s mannerisms (the way, for instance, he flicks a cigarette in the air and catches it with his mouth or dances or stands) tempt a bus conductor or a coolie to copy the star, certainly his success.
Rajnikanth infuses into perhaps every fan of his a compelling desire to rise above the grind and the toil. He never forgets that Shivaji hopped off a bus and on to a cinema set, shedding his drab khakis for amazing costumes – walking out of depressive gloom into brilliant light.
Apolitical superman
There could be another factor for Rajnikanth’s immense appeal. While Ramachandran and others sought to seek solutions to social ills through political processes, the actor has steadfastly refused to do so.
On the contrary, Rajnikanth translates himself into an apolitical superman on the screen, boldly conveying his disappointment with institutional and democratic solutions. He seeks remedies outside these. A politically disillusioned India finds this engaging.
However, for a serious cinema watcher, Rajnikanth is but all style and no substance.Some have described him as a clown. Yes, perhaps a clown all right, but a beloved clown who may have used sheer gimmicks to whitewash his weaknesses.But, these tricks have enslaved thousands of men and women. Nobody can deny this.
Source : http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/2011/07/01/rajnikanth-the-man-of-the-masses/
This is a phenomenon that is particularly strong in southern India, where Dravidian political parties have been using movies to spread their ideologies, capturing the imagination of the masses.Tamil Nadu’s onetime Chief Minister, MG Ramachandran, acted out the Dravidian dogma, endearing in the process to the poor and socially downtrodden.In neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, NT Ramarao slipped into mythological characters – like Rama and Krishna – and transformed himself into an epitome of godliness, eventually winning hearts and votes.
However, there have been exceptions. Some actors did not either take the political path or divine direction, and yet attracted a kind of appeal that defied logic and rationale.Tamil superstar Rajnikanth is the man I am talking about. Now recuperating in Singapore after a long illness (and nobody knows what it was, for the family will not tell us, nor will his doctors), he has to complete “Rana”, a historical action movie, now on the floors.
In fact, he fell sick when he was shooting for “Rana” in Chennai and had to be rushed to hospital, and later shifted to Singapore for more specialised medical treatment.Rajnikanth, who plans to return to Chennai soon to finish “Rana”, has the biggest fan following in India, possibly only next to what Ramachandran had when he was alive. One may be surprised to note that neither Amitabh Bachchan nor Kamal Hassan enjoy that kind of adulation.
Some time ago, when Rajnikanth’s “Endhiran: The Robot” opened in 2,000 screens the world over, about 500 in Tamil Nadu alone, the fan frenzy took over. Wooden cutouts of the 60-plus-year old star were anointed with milk and honey, and garlanded with fresh flowers.Pujas were performed and crackers burst in a show of not just joy, but sheer solidarity that the people, especially the have-nots, shared with him.
Close to the common man
The society’s downtrodden see the star as a superb success story. Born as Shivaji Rao Gaekwad in Bengaluru (Bangalore) to Marathi parents, Rajnikanth lost his mother when he was barely five, and spent much of his youth working as a coolie and later as a bus conductor in that city.A friend and co-worker helped Rajnikanth secure admission in the Madras Film Institute in the early 1970s.
He got his first break in 1975 with a K Balachander film, “Apoorva Raagangal”. It was only J Mahendran’s 1978 “Mullum Malarum” that gave him the star tag.Yet, when P Vasu made “Kuselan” in 2008, which almost seemed like Rajnikanth’s own story, it crashed. So too some of his other works. But failures never seemed to diminish the brightness of the aura around him.
A large part of this craze can be attributed to his immense modesty (despite his exceptional rise in life) tempered with remarkable self-assuredness. He is absolutely uncaring about how he looks off screen. (Ask Amitabh Bachchan or Kamal Hassan to do that, and they would wince at this prospect.).He never hides his bald pate under a wig, never tries to greasepaint his dark skin into a lighter shade. Which is quite unlike any other star, who must always be seen as handsome and impeccably turned out.
Such unpretentiousness on Rajnikanth’s part obviously takes him closer to the common man, who finds it comfortable to identify with his hero.Of course, on the screen, Rajnikanth’s mannerisms (the way, for instance, he flicks a cigarette in the air and catches it with his mouth or dances or stands) tempt a bus conductor or a coolie to copy the star, certainly his success.
Rajnikanth infuses into perhaps every fan of his a compelling desire to rise above the grind and the toil. He never forgets that Shivaji hopped off a bus and on to a cinema set, shedding his drab khakis for amazing costumes – walking out of depressive gloom into brilliant light.
Apolitical superman
There could be another factor for Rajnikanth’s immense appeal. While Ramachandran and others sought to seek solutions to social ills through political processes, the actor has steadfastly refused to do so.On the contrary, Rajnikanth translates himself into an apolitical superman on the screen, boldly conveying his disappointment with institutional and democratic solutions. He seeks remedies outside these. A politically disillusioned India finds this engaging.
However, for a serious cinema watcher, Rajnikanth is but all style and no substance.Some have described him as a clown. Yes, perhaps a clown all right, but a beloved clown who may have used sheer gimmicks to whitewash his weaknesses.But, these tricks have enslaved thousands of men and women. Nobody can deny this.
Source : http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/2011/07/01/rajnikanth-the-man-of-the-masses/
No comments:
Post a Comment