A Brief History Of Rajini…
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Wearing a shabby looking coat and trousers, un-tucked shirt and loosened tie, one man opened a gate and entered into Tamil cinema’s collective consciousness. The fact that his on-screen entry in Apoorva Ragangal was accompanied by dissonance, has since become irrelevant given that his 30 year sojourn since then has been anything but that.
Born Shivaji Rao Gaekwad in Bangalore to Ramoji Rao and Rambhai on the 12th of December 1950, very little is known about his formative years. Also little known is the fact that he is a graduate of the Chennai campus of the Film Institute. But what he did for a living before coming to Chennai is part of folklore. Rajinikanth or Thalaivar as he is known to his millions of fawning fans (including me) is India’s most famous ex-bus conductor.
During his time at the Film Institute, Shivaji Rao caught the attention of one of Indian cinema’s most astute auteurs, K.Balachander, who saw the hunger in his eyes and offered him that bit and yet landmark role as SriVidya’s husband who after tormenting her, leaves her and returns later, afflicted with a terminal disease. After that short 15 minute appearance in the path breaking Apoorva Raagangal, a string of negative roles followed in movies like Moondru Mudichu, 16 Vayadhinile and Gayathri.Then S.P. Muthuraman decided to mix things up and Thalaivar’s first leading man role followed in Bhuvana Oru Kelvikkuri.
But it was not a complete transformation. In the years that followed, Rajini followed Bhuvana Oru Kelvikkuri with movies that established his place among the pantheon of great actors that have graced Tamil and indeed Indian cinema. Though, broadly speaking, he was doing some roles with a negative tinge, the sheer variety of characters he played is really mind-boggling. It is almost impossible to slot him in a stereotype based on the movies he chose in these first few years after Bhuvana… Notable among these are Kali, the one armed cable car operator who lives for his sister (Mullum Malarum), the lead guitar player (Ninaithale Innikum), the lawyer who searches for the kidnapped actress Sridevi in Singapore (Priya), sadistic husband (Avargal), henchman who takes the blame for a rape committed by his master (Bhairavi). The list is endless.
Then came Aaril Irundhu Aruvathu varai. The success of Bhuvana… and his recognition of Thalaivar as a raw talent capable of more than just gimmicks (more on that later) spurred S.P.Muthuraman to coax Rajini into accepting the melodramatic role of a family man who has to single handedly bring up a trio of siblings while circumstances force him to make a number of self sacrifices. In Aaril Irundhu Aruvadhu Varai, Thalaivar consented to play the un-glamorous role of the lower middle class everyman, even appearing in the garb of an old man towards the end of the movie.And there was Netrikkan. Rajinikanth’s dual role as a womanizing industrialist and his good natured son was something no one in similar career phase would care to touch. Rajini pulled that role off with aplomb. Somewhere unbeknownst to many, Rajini the actor had truly arrived.
If the highlights of the first phase of Rajini’s career, i.e. 1975 to 1980, were his movies with his mentor – K.Balachander, then the next phase was set off by his movies with S.P.Muthuraman. Between 1977’s Bhuvana Oru Kelvikkuri and 1990’s Adhisiya Piravi, S.P Muthuraman made at least 15 movies with Rajinikanth. And to put it lightly, these movies hit the mark more than once. In a way, S.P.Muthuraman’s movies were what made Rajinikanth the Superstar as he is known now. These movies revolved around the main protagonist, played naturally by Rajinikanth and involved him fighting for the general well being of society. The villains were caricatures and the girl, not more than arm candy.
During this period, Rajini was perhaps one of India’s busiest actors. In the 80s, Rajini starred in an average of 6 movies an year, many of them Hindi. However, if his Tamil movies roles were spread across the spectrum, his Hindi movies solely slotted him as a comic hero with moderate success. And though movies like Giraftar, Andha Kaanoon and Chaalbaaz did make waves in the box office, the public in the North perhaps did not warm up to him as much as he would have liked. This is evident from the unfamiliar amusement that the public derives while equating Rajini with actors such as Mithun Chakroborty. As with the other stars that made the trip across the Vindhyas, he did not get his due.
But then, just like that, after 1990, Rajini started taking it easy. This perhaps contributed to his
meteoric rise above his peers like Vijayakanth (they were both doing the similar kind of movies). And as Oz mentioned, it was during this post 90s phase that Rajini grew in stature as a cash cow, a sure winner. While movies like Pandian and Naatukku Oru Nallavan were widely reviled, these were far and few in between.Stories abound about distributors becoming rich twice over just with one of Rajinikanth’s movies. One story that I personally have heard is this Madurai distributor who bought the local Madurai city rights for Mani Ratnam’s Dalapathi for 75 lakh rupees and sold it the very next day to the highest bidder for 1.25 crores. Not much, but then the mind boggles if you consider that this incident took place 15 years ago in 1991, when Madurai’s population was much lesser than the current estimate of 1.1 million (11 lakhs).
Since 1995, most of his movies have broken records for box office receipts. Even his much maligned Baba reputedly made enough money to recover costs. And that in itself is an achievement since the biggest single cost in a Rajini starrer is the payroll for its leading man which these days runs close to 20 crores a movie. From an average of 6 movies a year in the 70s and the 80s, Rajini’s has since reduced his output to just one movie every couple of years. In doing so, he has shrewdly transformed the Tamil movie industry into one whose annual fortunes sometimes depend on whether one of his starrers is releasing that year or not.
As I come to a point where I can take a break, I find that I have merely scratched the surface. I am pretty sure that the comments will generate a much wider discussion on every single point in Rajini’s career that I have missed. And all I can say in my defense that, only a voluminous book can do justice to the career of a star like Rajinikanth. My aim here has been just to touch on points that a lot of people (apart from the hardcore fan) might not be aware of. I shall soon continue on what I think are responsible for his meteoric rise – the external factors and the people involved, the usual suspects and the hidden minds. So, as Thalaivar would say, “How eeees it?”… And that’s your cue to say – “Sooooper”.
Tags: Acting, Tamil
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Rajinikant rulz! His are some of the most entertaining movies one can ever see. People outside South India often don’t take him seriously for his antics, the same ones that cause mass hysteria among his fans (myself included). The roles he plays are engineered so the common man of Tamil Nadu can identify with the core of the character as much as possible, and then he flips it by making this seemingly common man, larger than life itself.
While no other actor can do what Rajini does, one must also note that he is an exceptional actor in the so-called critical scheme of things as well. Watch his older films where he stars alongside Kamal Haasan, or for that matter, his splendid performance in Mani Ratnam’s “Dalapathi”.
I grew up in Kobe, Japan through my high-school years and I remember a sudden frenzy had started about a particular Indian film that had been released there theatrically. A Japanese film critic who returned from Singapore with a bunch of Indian video cassettes reviewed Rajini’s “Muthu” in the Japan Times – a full page review that ended by saying “Watch ‘Muthu’ at least thrice!” And thus the film was released theatrically in one little art-house theater re-titled as “Dancing Maharaja”, and slowly expanded. “Titanic” was also released in the same month: the film fizzled out of the theaters after 6 months or so. “Muthu” ran in Japanese cinemas for a whole year, and not only did the film and Rajinikant/Meena become a rage, but anything Indian, became hip all of a sudden for Japanese youth.
My point is, Rajinikant starrers connect with people looking for the ultimate escapist experience. Majority of mainstream Japanese cinema is either dark, or pornographic, or both. To watch this exotic, feel-good cinema, was a completely novel experience for the Japanese. Rajini’s older films were then released subsequently, as “Dancing Maharaja 2, 3, 4″ and so on, making Japan a very lucrative market.
Also, it is believed that Rajinikant’s offscreen activities make him more popular than his onscreen antics. His family have undertaken immense philanthropic efforts all over Tamil Nadu, and when a man who propagates what he preaches on screen, off screen as well, it is but natural that the common men and women will find their leader in him.
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Rajini’s Hindi films:
Performance wise, Rajini will be known for his comic role in Chalbaaz as his other hindi films were just mediocre where mostly he shared screen with so many other actors and perhaps he was not having much to do. Andha Kanoon was a magnificent debut in Hindi film if we go by the presentation and the star cast but this big named star cast ruined the chances of Rajini in Hindi films. Kamal Hasan was more lucky with solo hero film- ek duje ke liye.
In north India, TV is the only medium through which people could see his films and he has been watched lovingly. His Dalpaty and specially his dance in white pant shirt has been very famous there.
Morre over Rajini’s image in North India is of very honest and down to earth humanbeing and he has very real impression on the people. Language bar is there on both sides, Rajini is not comfortable in Hindi and audience cant understand telugu or tamil. But as I said Rajini is very revered name in north India also and he has big fan following. His screen appearance is stylish and his real image is very appealing. That is Rajini for us. A real star human being.
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Hey good article man,
I am from North India and I like all other north Indians…are connected to Rajini only through his Hindi films…but I am sure/amazed he must have done some pretty good cinema to be at a status where he is today…
I would love to watch all those Rajini classics which you people are talking about, please suggest me some Rajini movies which I should/must watch and language is no barrier for me.
If someone is from Delhi, please if you could suggest where I could buy Tamil/Telegu movies in Delhi.:-?
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very true, shitij.
i used to wait for rajini films in hindi.
he also did an amazing work in Hum.remember the ‘batdance’ sequence!
i used to imitate his delivery back in school but later realised how multi-layered his performances were. they would want you to consume the portrayal in a way, and rajini would always succeed at that.
come to think of it, i also used to wait for nagarjuna films, loved him in khuda gawah, shiva and zakhm.
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Yes I dont know why Hindi filmakers hesitate when it comes to casting actors from south…and also I feel actors down south are also no longer interested in making it in Hindi film industry (unlike in 80-90s)…who will pay them 4-5-6-7-8-9 crores per movie here.
-I also remember Venkatesh’s act in Anari.
-Nagarjuna acted very well in Zakhm.
From south I would like to see Allu Arjun (an actor who has given a superhit ARYA,HAPPY in telegu industry…go watch that movie…perfect masala fair)…in hindi cinema as he has all that to be succesful here.
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my current favorite from down south is Surya, the guy from Aayitha Ezuthu, tamil version of Yuva. He is simply amazing, saw him recently in sillunnu oru kaadhal.
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Thanks to all you guys for the comments! Made my day, especially cos of the subject of the post!
Vijay: You touched all the points that I hope to talk about, on my later posts on the same subjects. Thank you!
RK: I am pleasantly surprised when you say that Rajini’s movies have been watched lovingly in North India. My surmise that he’s viewed as a joker is because of the multitude of email forwards that use Rajini and Mithun interchangeably. Sometime you get emails containing descriptions of scenes from Rajini’s movies and then later you get the same emails bearing Mithun’s name. But yes, he is a superstar among human beings! As for Kamal, I am not sure Ek Duje Ke Liye was a big hit. I dont know. I have heard that it was not. And if you ask me, Kamal’s potrayal in Saagar was much better.
shitij: If you look at the posts, I editted it to show the names of his movies in Italics. I think the spellings are fairly accurate so if you were to write it down and show it to a storekeeper who is knowledgable about Tamil movies, I am sure you will be able to find some. Btw, I spoke to someone I know, a Tamilian who grew up in Delhi and she told me that when she was in Delhi they used to rent Tamil movies from Ramakrishna Stores.
Yes I dont know why Hindi filmakers hesitate when it comes to casting actors from south
I think its because of the accent. I have read that Kamal was not really appreciated by the industry in Bombay because of the same reason.
Tushar: Yup, Hum was amazing. But he was in a way overshadowed by Amitabh. And yes, Surya is one of the better actors. There are more though. Vikram is another. In fact, Surya and Vikram are this generation’s Kamal and Rajini. But the roles are kinda reversed. Surya cannot dance, but he gets the attention of all the women. Vikram does the macho man roles and dances really well. In the case of Kamal and Rajini, it was kind of the opposite!
And oh btw, Jillunu Oru Kadhal bombed at the box office, but Surya apparently looked good, as usual!
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Dunno guys … but rajni as a star is bigger than than rajni the actor ..
yes he was given varied roles particularly by K balachander at the start of his career but towards the later half (90’s and beyond) he was playing the masala hero way too many times ….
Muthu, Padayappa, Badshah etc etc .. where he does the same larger than life dialogues, and mannerisms … and yes that’s what has made him the common man’s hero … the messiah …
Manirathnam has said … that threemost difficult stars to make films are rajni , Amitabh and chiranjeevi …. probably because of their image …
I’m not saying anything bad against rajni …. all im saying is … wish he had experimented a little like kamal …. it would’ve been amazing to see him in such roles …..
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Karthik: By the second half of the 90s, the people who understood Rajini as an actor were long out of the movie industry by then. The people left behind, like Bharathiraja and KB were hampered by the price Rajini commanded. Also I have a faint idea that Rajini kinda lost respect for his directors. I mean, he lost faith that they could do things he was used to doing in the early part of his career. And the newer crop just played to the audience by giving him roles that were box office cash cows.
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jillunnu oru kadhal was HORRIBLE! did jothika really have to end her acting career on that note?!? i can’t stand bhoomika to begin with.. and in this movie, she looked totally outta place. sorry.. i digress..
as for rajini, the irony remains that as down to earth his roles were (autokaran [baasha], velaikaran, muthu) the more larger than life his real-life persona became.. as much as he tried to emulate the common man in his reel life, the more “anything but” he became in real life. the roles now became staler by the film and it was more his mannerisms and image that made the people flock to the theaters. result? cash cows.
i mean really, who in south india gives two sh*ts about wanting to see rajini act? they just wanna see their superstar doing what he does best. be a superstar. (SRK syndrome anyone?)
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Wow. I am so happy that we are discussing Rajini on this forum as I feel he is one of the most underrated contributors to Indian cinema.
Striker: I totally agree with you about Silluna Oru Kaadhal. Pathetic film and I’m not sure why Surya or A.R. Rahman ever got associated with that film, though I must say that Rahman’s song in that film “New York Nagaram” can easily be rated as one of his better songs.
I also completely agree with your point about the irony behind how Rajini’s image got larger than life, as his roles got more down to earth. It goes back to basically how in Tamil films particularly, the more the common man can identify with the hero, the more popular he becomes. Rajinikant stands out because even though he plays to the gallery, there is a sense of social responsibility associated with the characters he plays. And that image gets backed up further more by the fact that he stands by those ideals in his personal life as well.
Kartik: Certainly it would have been wonderful to see Rajini experiment with his roles. But I think after a while, as a star of that stature, one would start assuming a sense of responsibility towards one’s fans for providing them with what they want to see. A good example would be the film “Baba”. A terrible film yes, but at the same time, he did try something different, in a role that was more spiritually inclined. That bombed, even though he did all his usual antics in that film, the core of the character seemed alien to the public and the film bombed (relatively speaking).
Anantha: I wouldn’t quite say Rajini lost respect for his directors. I think his image grew so larger than life, that it forced him into a mould where with every film, his responsibility towards his financiers grew to unimaginable levels. If he experimented, the films would have still made profit, but perhaps not at the level as his other blockbusters. Especially after “Baba”, even though the film made money, it did not make as much money as was projected by the investors. In fact he paid distributors and financiers out of his own pocket to make up for their “opportunity cost” if I may say.
Anyway, one gets a feeling that Rajini himself is looking to encapsulate his career through his next film “Sivaji – The Boss”. For the first time, he is teaming up with Shankar, arguably Tamil cinema’s biggest director (in terms of the scale of his films at least). The film itself is being touted as a semi-biographic film, and Rajini’s biggest yet. Add to that the numbers, which if the rumors are true, would make Sivaji the most expensive film made in India to date, at a budget, which according to a contact of mine who is working on the film right now, at a whopping 70 crores.
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Hi Anantha,
Rajni is in a league of his own. And i always enjoyed his movies. Most of em are harmless pop corn fun, and i can sit through his movies, unlike those of Vijaykanth or Sharath Kumar, which give me splitting headaches. I guess this is because most of his movies are family friendly too, not too much gore, mother-sister relationship(Baasha,Padayaapa) and of course Rajni himself.
Also unlike Vijaykanth and Sharath Kumar, most of whose movies are the same angry men fighting against the system or the big hearted village landlord or the ear splitting dialogs in name of patriotism, Rajni’s movies have a good script.
Baasha was interesting with the twist in the interval.
Arunachalam also with the central premise of hero having to spend a crore rupees.
But i dont think going away from his image would have hurt him. Dalapathi was a complete change of image, and i dont think that movie was a flop.
I am looking forward to Shivaji, coz Shankar, does make movies with a good storyline, instead of the usual beaten to death, hero against the world stuff.
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Thank you for a nostalgia trip – it was nice to see the names of the movies that made us fans of Rajni originally. We liked Paratttai more than Kamal. His comedic timing is peerless & Netrikan remains one of my favorites for that reason. Kids who grew up on his 90’s movies should rent all the movies you mentioned. Can you help me identify the movie he produced & acted in ? It was a movie about revenge for a young girl – I remember a red ‘dhavani’- It flopped & that stopped him trying to diversify the roles & I stopped waiting for his new movies. I have been away from Madras (I do not think of it as Chennai) for over 20 years.
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err.. Ratnakar.. Shankar doesn’t make the “usual beaten to death, hero against the world stuff”
that may have been true for Boys, but what was Anniyan? :D [vikram's AWESOME! might just do a vikram post on here now]
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Striker :
Ek Duje ke liye was a major hit and Kamal Hasan was awaited with curiosity followed by success of Sanam Teri Kamsam.
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RK, i agree with you on that one.. (but i think your comments may have been directed toward anantha bc she referred to EDKL and not me)
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Striker : Rightly said. Sorry for confusion.
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Well what i implied was Shankar’s movies have some sort of storyline going about em
Gentleman- About the education system
Indian-Corruption
Mudhalvan-Politics
Boys-About Youth
Kadhalan and Jeans were totally forgettable movies, except for songs.
And he does come up with a different story in every movie. I am not saying he is a genius, but in a commercial framework, he does come up with an engaging storyline.
Contrast this with that of a Vijaykanth or Sharath Kumar movie, the story line is beaten to death
Hero avenging death of his near-dear ones, or a village chieftain who is regarded as a God by villagers.
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- anantha, beautiful write up. After his 6-60, Rajni attempted breaking out of the image mould with his Sri Raghavendra – and anbulla fans mercilessly punished him – the movie bombed big time! I personally rate Alex Pandiyan as his best role till date.
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sooooooper write up anantha! thalaivar paththi azhaga yezhudhi, yengaeyooo poyiteenga! thoroughly enjoyed reading it!!
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mlc: Thank you.
WB: Thank you. Ya, as I read the comments, I keep getting more ideas on what other movies that I should have mentioned. I think I was mainly looking at turning points in his career and the Alex Pandian character from Moondru Mugam that actually won him his second award for Best Actor from the TN government should have found a mention! But to my defense, I think I mentioned the movie that won him his first State award – Mullum Malarum! As for Sri Raghavendra, another story
striker: I am a “he” :D
Ratnakar / Striker: I am not a big Shankar fan. Subtlety does not seem to be his forte. I know it’s Vikram whose acting was over the top while playing the “Ambi” character, but even otherwise, Shankar’s idea of emphasizing a point is by going over the top. Case at point, the one song in Boys. Weeks before the movie released, these “360 shots” were in the news and when we saw them on screen, they were a huge letdown considering the way they were used. Pretty tacky, I’d say.
RK: I did not realize EDKL was a hit. I remember an interview with K.Balachander vaguely, where I think he mentioned that though EDKL did not do well, there were a couple of copycat suicides which prompted him to make Punnagai Mannan in Tamil. Hmm…
Tivi: Thank you. Yes, Parattai is an iconic character, considering his punchlines have stuck till today! And the movie you are talking about is Valli.
Ratnakar: You have mentioned every single reason why I am still a Rajini fan inspite of watching a lot more serious movies than I would have 10 years ago. They are not pretentious, even if they are mildly preachy. I am waiting for Shivaji for the same reason, but I just hope the usual Shankar way of overdoing things does not pull down the movie. And I fear that might happen too, going by Rajini/Shreya’s costumes for the one song whose “making of” pictures have been leaked. Let’s wait with our fingers crossed, I say!
Vijay: I guess I should have worded my argument better and elaborated. What I meant was, as Rajini’s image grew, he was pricing himself out of the market and the usual directors who made his initial movies – notably Bharthiraja and KB probably thought that their brand of movies won’t work with Rajini anymore. And by that time, Rajini was probably senior to any of the other directors who were approaching him and did not command respect from him the same way Bharathiraja and KB would have. So you see his hand in a lot of sequences in this later movies like Muthu. As for Maniratham, who I want to see direct Rajini and Kamal together (another unfulfilled fantasy movie for me) I think the remuneration is the key here too. And as I mentioned above, fingers crossed for Shivaji.
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#-o sorry anantha.. thing is, i know two ananthas already, and both of them are girls :-”
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Disagree here.[-( Rajini is just hyped to be good in KB’s era. Even in those films with kamal, he was all the while plotting to be a stylish masala icon. He was merely playing a bad guy image in those films with his routine cliche mannerisms. For a person from south and TN, I am disgusted that he is being accepted by tamil audience.Almost every industry has such an icon who doesnt deserve to be praised. Amitabh,SRK,Chiranjeevi,
Rajini,blah blah blah.
He never was a good actor to be brought into the topic of passionforcinema.com, Maybe passionformasalacrap.com would be a better place.;)
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Anantha,
)
Nice write-up and guess there’s more to come! (And his mom’s name is Ramabai; Rambhai sounds more like a man’s name.
One point, though. I don’t buy this point of Rajini as a serious actor much.
Yes, he acted in many movies from the KB stable and in a couple of Mahendran movies (3 to be precise). That can’t pass him off as someone who was higly aspirant of “serious”/”good” films/roles; and more importantly, not of having been exceedingly successful in those roles. And, when somebody adds a film like Sri Raghavendra to the list, I’m at loss of words.
Rajinikanth is a huge star, one of the biggest icons of the state. I don’t think his acting abilities need even be discussed. But, if it has to be, I can’t say he was superb.
And, Ek Duuje Ke Liye was a big hit. But, KB supposedly felt he had to revisit the suicide ending in that film (to loosely term, a “disowning” of sorts) because it supposedly prompted some real-life suicides. And so he did, in Punnagai Mannan and Vaaname Ellai.
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Ok, actually, I just smiled and closed the brackets. But, it got interpreted as if I was laughing my heart out. ;)
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Nandu: I am not going to qualify your comment with a response.
Zero: But he did come back, in the height of his “popular” years with a very subtle potrayal in Dalapathi. That makes me think that all he needed was a director willing to ignore his stardom, someone he trusted enough to let go of the star facade. If I did not know better, I’d say he was typecast as a superstar.
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guys,beat this
Rajni got 30 cr for Chandramukhi
He will get 60 cr for sivaji…… highest paid actor by far in india….
Big B, shahrukh and aamir may get 8 cr per film.
imagine 60 cr(mind-blowing right) ….. and A-list hollywood stars get 25million$ per film i.e.100 cr.
Rajni might get that for his next movie….
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i got something to say …..nothing
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vineeth… yes he could probably be in the A-list of hollywood actors… www.sify.com
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Hey Anantha…. are you from ITBHU–>XLRI and the mind behind superb cluenatics series in 2004 ?
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Amit: Check your email…
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i`m at work, will check my email as soon as i`m home .
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Vanakkam ppl,
Iam a tamil speaking guy born-n-bred in hyderabad .. a hindi-urdu +telugu spkn city…so grew up on watching telugu +hindi+tamil movies!
Maybe iam kinda qlfied to make a few points
. Rajini is a STAR first actor next…of course interms of FANS PASSION…N0 1 in the country today ( FAN FOLLOWING …N0 1 is AMITABH)…bt even in terms of ALL TIME _ FANS PASSION ,,,i blv it was RAJESH KHANNA….girls [moms now} used to kiss his car !So Rajini vl come below him in the ALL TIME FANS PASSION category.
. As rightly pointed by somebody… the ROLES he did n KBalas movies were good…his acting standards were just above average
. He was lucky that he was dark skinned..the masses identified with him….
. The classes liked him for his ATTITUDE
. The masses liked his gimmicks
Hence his SCREEN CONNECT with audiences was much higher….in contrast Kamal’s penchant for identifting with the character he was playing distanced him from the audience..he would DISSOLVE into a movie…people APPRECIATED kamal but LOVED rajini …
Cya
rammy
Stay Chilled Out !
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Well both Rajini and Kamal have their own plus points. Both are talented in their on ways. Rajini can’t act like Kamal and neither can Kamal act like Rajini. They are successful in their own ways. Rajini is idolised for his ability to reach to the masses while Kamal amazes everyone with his versatility in acting. These are what which makes both these stars shine in their own way. No wonder till now they hold the lead in their on end. The rest of the actors are merely seeking them for inspirations.
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Thalaiva,
U have to act more films atleast for next 5 years.
COOL ….
Dhilip
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hi im mani,
im also a big fan of rajni, he is the good human being..and good personality in her own life too..
i like him to come for a politics to serve a pepole…
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I recently saw an old movie of Rajni (again) — aaril irundhu arubadhu varai (6 to 60).
One should watch rajni’s recent movies to relish this movie. Rajni is an excellent actor, who has chosen the easy route to success in his later years. I cannot imagine Rajni doing such roles now. From 1977-81 he has acted in good roles.
He has seen success with negative roles, with heroism, with comedy and everything he has attemtped till date.
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