Rajnikanth's Special News

When Rajni became Nagma's fan

Nagma

Basha was one of Rajnikanth's biggest hits. He played a don in Mumbai in one half of the film and an autodriver in Chennai in the other half. His one-liners, especially Naan orutharam sonnal noorutharam sonna maathiri (If I say it once, it is equivalent to saying it a 100 times), is still quoted by his fans.

Rajni was paired opposite Nagma, one of the top heroines in the South at the time.

And even though the actress rarely does South movies any more -- she's busy with Bhojpuri cinema -- she says that acting with Rajni was a great experience. "He is the best actor I have acted with," she says. "He is so stylish; no one else can be as stylish as him. He has created his own niche in style. He is unique in that aspect."

She also finds him very humble. "He has no starry airs," she adds. "Being down-to-earth is good for any actor. In his case, it is very special because he is not only an actor, he is a superstar."

Nagma recalls a time when she was on the sets with Rajni in Hyderabad. The actress, who usually busied herself with knitting or reading in between shots, was once practicing her lines animatedly. She was not aware of the people around her. Suddenly, she realised that Rajni had been observing her for a while with an amused expression. He had not disturbed her while she rehearsed.

Once he had told her that he became her fan since he saw her in the song Gopala Gopala in Kaadhalan. Kaadhalan, which was a huge hit, had Nagma opposite Prabhu Deva.

On another occasion, he told her jokingly, 'Don't look into my eyes, your eyes are so enigmatic that they distract me.'

'Rajni's strength is his humility'

Rajnikanth in Sivaji

"People listen to Rajni songs at least ten times more than other songs," says lyricist P.Vijay.

This veteran who has been writing lyrics for Tamil movies for more than a decade now, says songs from Rajnikanth films are very popular.

Vijay has composed a song for the Tamil star's upcoming release Sivaji. The song is Oru Kudai and the lyricist wrote it keeping in mind the story, character and situation.

"When we are writing for Rajni, we know the song will become more popular because he is a mass hero. It is extra important because it will reach more people," he said.

Vijay's contribution for Rajni's first film Chandramukhi was Athindom. "Rajnikanth was there when the song was being composed and I can still remember what he told us..he said 'compose a song that everyone will like. The audience must like it. Keep that in mind,'"the lyricist recalled.

Vijay recollects that Rajni never interfered with the work. "He was very appreciative and never criticised. We were very happy that he had so much confidence in us. A star of his stature could have given us advice or some inputs. But he never did that. His confidence in us made us work better," he added.

Vijay recalled meeting Rajni once during a book release function and another time when his son wanted to meet the superstar. "Rajni's strength is his humility and simplicity. We should all learn how to be humble from him. He is such a big star and yet has no ego at all," he said.

It may be mentioned that Vijay got his first break in Tamil movies in 1996 when he wrote for K Bhagyaraj's Gnanapalam.