Rajinikanth took to the stage at the audio launch of his upcoming film Kaala amid loud cheers from his fans. The superstar, who will be seen portraying the role of Kaala Karikaalan in the film, started off by saying, “I feel this is more like the success party than the audio launch.”
He began by speaking about his last success party that he had been a part of and said, “My last success party was for Sivaji and the event was graced by Kalaignar Karunanidhi. He had praised me then. I want to hear his voice again today and I pray to God that I get to hear it soon.”
He continued, “Robot’s success party could not be held due to my health. At that time, thanks to your wishes and prayers, I got better with treatment in Singapore. I couldn’t hold the success event for that film. It was then that I was advised to keep not just my body, but my mind sharp. So some very intelligent people advised me to work on this film Rana (later renamed Kochadaiiyaan) for just eight days after which the computer graphics would take care of the rest. My daughter Soundarya took up the project as she had the skill. However, the budget went overboard and I decided to release the film how it was.”
He then said that the lesson he learnt from that experience was to work with intelligent people, not the ‘too intelligent ones’.
He continued, “With Lingaa, I chose to work with a director who is a very close friend and I took up a story that was close to my heart (water crisis). The film didn’t work as well as we expected and from this, I learnt two lessons. Firstly, one cannot be a good person, be it in life or in a film and secondly to not have romantic sequences with heroines younger than my daughters.” In Lingaa, Rajinikanth plays a character who uses his wealth to build a dam for the benefit of people but they still give up on him.
It was then that he decided to play characters that would suit his age. It was his daughter Soundarya who introduced Pa Ranjith to him. Initially Rajinikanth didn’t want to do another don film because he felt that people wanted a sequel to Baasha or something along the same lines. However, no sequel or prequel could be done, because there could only be one Baasha. He explained, “I heard it was the underworld of Malaysia later, which is what interested me.”
Speaking about Ranjith, he recalled how when the director came for narration of Kabali to him, it was the first time he had got a full bound script in his four-decade long career. “When I read it, the script went on and on about Kabali searching for his wife Kumudhavalli. I said this won’t work because my fans are not patient. So, I took second opinion from S Thanu who heard the story and said yes to the film. When I watched the film I told Ranjith that as a director you have won, but I have to see if I, as an actor, have won and if the producer will win.”
The movie did well monetarily, but received mixed reactions. It was then that he had asked his elder daughter Aishwarya if Wunderbar Studio would produce films only with her husband Dhanush in the lead. Rajinikanth later spoke to Dhanush, who began to look for suitable directors to direct his father-in-law. The search led him to Vetrimaaran, who had a script that was completely political. “Then, I hadn’t really thought about joining politics so I said no only to go back to Ranjith,” explained Rajinikanth.
“I heard a script from Vetrimaaran but the film was extremely political, which I didn’t want to do. As time was passing by, I called Ranjith again. He explained that there was no concrete idea for Kaala, and it took three months of recce in Dharavi to finalise the story,” he said.
The superstar said, “Kaala has politics but it’s not a political film. I told Ranjith that Kabali was his, but this should be his and my film as well. Mine as in my fans. I can promise one thing, Ranjith would not end his life as a director with Kaala. He is destined for greater things. He isn’t selfish. He wants to do good for his community, people and everyone around him. I have never met anyone who feels so deeply about society.”
He also spoke about the formidable antagonists in his films like Baasha’s Antony and Padayappa’s Neelambari. Now, the actor explained, Kaala’s antagonist, played by Nana Patekar, will be great. “It’s a very different film and I believe that it will work,” he said.
The actor did not make any references to his political party except at the end of his speech. He said, “What you think you become, we should always be productive. Be positive and happy always. Every thought has a colour and weight. If you stay positive, life will always be good. Media people might think I haven’t spoken about the most important thing, but the time hasn’t come yet. It will happen when the time is right, it will happen effectively.”
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