Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Anbulla Rajinikanth

Dear Rajini,

I am writing this in good faith and in the belief that one day you would prove your critics wrong. It disheartens me to see the ridiculous Rajinikath jokes float all over the internet. What disheartens me even more is the fact that none of your movies resemble anything close to what is stated in such ridiculous jokes. But Lingaa proved me wrong. Unfortunately, the climax scene of Lingaa is a testimony to those ridiculous jokes.

I started watching you since I was three. I watched Raja China Roja and you were the hero who could capture my heart when I was barely three. More than your looks, your style made an impeccable impression on fans like me. Your gait, fast paced walk, dialogue delivery, and those piercing eyes were the potent combination that was required for a hero. The story of your life from being a bus conductor to the Super Star of Tamil Cinema inspired and instilled hope in every ardent fan.

You were the hero who was different from the yesteryear heroes, because you were just like the common Tamil man - unassuming.  In an era when Tamil cinema was dominated by Heroes who ran behind trees and applied make up with rouge and lipstick, you broke all stereotypes by making your entry as a hard core, despicable villain. You stunned people with your performances in Aboorva ragangal, Moondru Mudichu, and 16 vayathinile.

Before people could type cast you as a villain, you surprised us with your comic timing in Thillu Mullu, Guru Shishyan, and Dharmathin Thalaivan. You moved audiences and made us weep with roles in Padikaathavan and Dhalapathi.  Fortunately or unfortunately, today you are one of the stars whose stardom and larger than life image overpowers your ability to demonstrate your multifaceted acting skills.

A friend of mine never reads self-help books. She tells me that watching a Rajini film gives her a high and motivates her.  Both of us have watched  Baasha, Annnamalai, Muthu, Padaiyappa,  at least half a dozen times. These movies had the perfect formula of fights/ comedy/ romance and the punch dialogues. Dialogues  like “Kanna, Kettavangalukku aandavan neraya kudupaan aana kai vituduvaan, Nallavangala andavan neraiya sothipaan, aana kaividamaatan” ( Bad people will get many things in life but ultimately god will not help them, God might give a lot of troubles to the good people but ultimately he will help them when needed ) are pills of motivation.  If you listen to the song ‘Vetri Nichayam’ from Annamalai, you’d never find the need for self helps books ever. In the past decade or so there is hardly any dialogue from your movies that has remained etched in my memory.

It pains me to see my hero at the age of sixty, battle with health issues, force himself  pull some moves and dance like a twenty something year old. It pains me even more to see that there is no formula that will help Rajini showcase his acting skills more than his style. It pains me the most to see you trapped in the cloud called stardom, and see you push yourself to perform unbelievable stunts like jumping from a cliff to a hot air balloon and act with actresses half your age.

As an ardent fan, I just have a humble request of you Rajini. We fans want to see you do what you love doing the most –leave everything behind and  just act. Act like a sadistic villain, act like a foolish comic or act like a just the common man.  We don’t expect you to dance, wear lipstick or do stunts that are unbelievable (Like flying in air and kicking a time bomb). We don’t expect you to be larger than life. We love you because of your simplicity and only because you are just like one of us.
Please give us a chance to celebrate you winning a national award. Pleaseeeeee…..

Yours ever faithfully,

A random fan

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