Rajnikant: Reigning boss of Indian celluloid

The hype and hysteria surrounding the release of 'Sivaji: the Boss' in India and overseas needs to be seen to be believed but there is no doubt about who is the country's biggest superstar.

Shivaji Rao Gaekwad, or Rajnikant to the most people, who was never seen as a hero by the Mumbai based Hindi filmdom or Bollywood, is today the undisputed king of Indian cinema.

He took home a wad of Rs.160 million for 'Sivaji' which is the most expensive Indian film ever. Even A-list Bollywood stars like Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan and Salman Khan charge about Rs.90 million each per film.

Before 57-year-old Rajnikant's latest venture 'Sivaji' hit the marquees this week, it was a common sight to see fans performing ablution by milk on his cut-outs, breaking coconuts in front of the film's posters to ward off evil forces, offering prayers and standing in never-ending serpentine queues to get a ticket.

Fans could be seen gathered outside single-screen theatres as well as multiplex theatres prior to the film's screening and chanted slogans. In Mumbai, fans were seen with hair dyed blond (like Rajni in the film), bursting crackers, distributing sweets and flowers.

In cinema halls in Chennai, Hyderabad and Mumbai, frontbenchers and the so-called suave balcony crowd alike were seen hooting, whistling, clapping, slogan chanting, dancing and throwing confetti every time their hero made an appearance, broke into a dance, delivered a punch line or hit the villain on the silver screen.

Rajni's histrionics in 'Sivaji' with the coin, sunglasses and even his bald pate, have been hailed like there was no tomorrow. And the Rajni mania is not just griping India but according to reports desi fans wrecked at least 10 cinemas across Malaysia after a nationwide premiere of 'Sivaji: The Boss' was either delayed or cancelled due to technical glitches.

The Rajni mania is at its zenith in the US and Japan as well. Reports from the US said there is unprecedented rush for tickets of 'Sivaji' being screened in major cities.

No other Tamil film - be it 'Chandramukhi', 'Anniyan', 'Ghajini', 'Vettayadu Vilayadu' - has attracted the kind of craze that has preceded the 'Sivaji' release in the US. A similar story is taking place in Japan where Rajnikant is immensely popular, according to reports.

Supernova, superstar, 'Style Mannan'...the Periya Thaliavar of Tamil filmdom has many adjectives attached to his name. Now that his latest movie is said to have grossed nearly Rs.20 million in advance bookings from 17 theatres in Chennai itself, it wouldn't be wrong to anoint him as the biggest star of India.

The only time Bollywood cast Rajnikant in an important role was in Anil Sharma's 'Farishtey', J. Om Prakash's 'Bhagwan Dada' and 'Wafadar', which were forgotten soon after. But except for his crisp Tamil accent, a Romeo-style red scarf, a cowboyish swagger, there was little to write home about his Bollywood career.

Rajnikant has come up the hard way. He used to work as a bus conductor before he discovered his talent for acting and enrolled in an 'action school'. And since then, there has been no looking back.

His first notable performance was in 'Moondru Mudichu' wherein he played a character with negative shades and charmed one and all with his famous cigarette flip. String of blockbusters likes 'Pokkiri Raja', 'Thanikkattu Raja', 'Naan Mahaan Alla', 'Moondru Mugham' and 'Nettrikkam' followed, making him a phenomenon.

Rajnikant has portrayed people from various walks of life and his films always carry a social message. But he has not gone the MGR way and stayed away from politics so far.

'Sivaji' is the superstar's 100th Tamil film. It is his ninth movie under the banner of AVM Productions. The film is directed by Shankar and produced by M. Saravanan and M.S. Guhan of AVM Productions. It also stars Shriya Saran, Suman, Prakash Raj, Vivek, Raghuvaran, Manivannan and Nayantara. The music has been composed by the maestro A.R. Rahman.

With every movie he does, he just seems to get bigger and better. Clearly, for him the world is not enough.

Bollywood's internationally best known star Bachchan's latest film 'Jhoom Barabar Jhoom', which released the same day as 'Sivaji', could not even generate houseful collections on the opening day.

The film features Bachchan's son and Bollywood's most hot-n-happening star Abhishek, Bobby Deol, Preity Zinta and Lara Dutta. The film did not garner rave reviews but its music by composer trio Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy is a rage.

The film by Bollywood's most successful banner, Yash Raj Films, even had the benefit of a well-oiled publicity machine propping it up. A highly hyped film, 'Jhoom Barabar Jhoom' was released with a record number of 265 prints with 86 UFOs, 18 E-City digital and one Real Image format in the Mumbai circuit alone.

Amitabh's ostentatious number in the Shaad Ali film screams for attention. White shirt and faded blue jeans topped by a multi-hued patchwork jacket complete with long black boots, black hat with ruffled feathers, rings, bangles, beads, stones, chains, earrings, kohl, long hair et all.

But his song and dance could not take a flying start like 'Dhoom 2'. Though the film did take a decent opening and is expected to cover its investments from metros and multiplexes, it pales in comparison with the response to 'Sivaji'.

Rajnikanth's record remuneration for 'Sivaji' may soon be bettered by Bollywood. The new studios on the block are willing to cough out unheard of figures for snapping up actors and filmmakers for multiple movie contracts.

The wheeling-dealing has started with Hrithik Roshan finally agreeing to sign a contract with Adlabs for a three-film deal worth Rs.350 million. Now Adlabs has also struck a 10-film deal worth a whopping Rs.2 billion with director Vipul Shah.

The other big banner, UTV, has signed up three Bollywood actors. Actress Priyanka Chopra said in a TV interview, 'It's great to be associated with a producer who is willing to give you that much of a say and saying that I don't want to do this or may be we can work something else out. It's great to do that.'

With many new entrants in Bollywood like Studio18, Mosaer Baer and Frankfinn, money is flowing in the industry. One-film-old director Sagar Bellary has already signed a three-film deal with Sahara Motion Pictures after successful debut 'Bheja Fry'. Yashraj Films already has directors like Kabir Khan, Shaad Ali, Shimit Amin, Siddharth Raj Anand and Arjun Sablok working for them on three-film contracts.

It remains to be seen if Hrithik can equal Rajnikant in terms of histrionics and popularity.