Madurai
Overwhelming Crossing all barriers
People
carried milk pots on their heads piously… Some pierced
their tongues and cheeks with spears. Another group
pulled a car hooked on to their skin… Crazy attempts for
setting a record? Or a part of some temple festival?
Neither. These were die-hard fans of matinee idol Rajni
Kant wishing him success, in their style, for his latest
flick, ‘Sivaji’.
“Six-kku appuram sevenda, Sivaji-kku appuram aevanda…
Pinneetteenga, thalaiva,” a 58-year-old fan cried out a
punch dialogue from the movie in full throat, vying with
relatively younger fans to gain entry into a theatre to
watch the film for the third time in succession.
Charisma
Age is
no bar when it comes to superstar Rajni Kant’s fan
following. Charisma of the hero pervades the society
cutting across age, gender. Attraction is uncontrolled
and unabating so much so that ticket sales for Sivaji
have touched a new high crashing all previous records.
And of course, along with that the ticket rates too have
increased prohibitively. But who cares when you idolise
Rajni Kant.
The
film has been released in more than 500 theatres across
Tamil Nadu.
In
smaller cities like Madurai, other films are normally
released in three or four theatres. But in this case,
‘Sivaji’ was released in nine theatres in the city
alone.
What is
it that makes this movie distinctly different from Rajni
Kant’s earlier films? Or what calls for such hype?
Star team
Unlike
his earlier films, ‘Sivaji’ is big in every aspect. The
AVM banner under which it has been produced, its
production value, star director in Shankar,
award-winning cinematographer and music director in K.V.
Anand and A.R. Rahman, respectively, well supported by a
strong technical team.
L.Ramachandran, a pharmaceutical distributor in the
city, is thrilled every time he sees Rajni Kant on
screen. “The title itself spells magic. His movements
and dialogue delivery has the power to attract anybody.
Once I am inside the theatre, I get fully immersed and
involved and don’t bother about anything else.”
This,
in fact, happens with many of Rajni’s fans. During the
first few days, much of the action takes place in the
seating area than on the screen. For die-hard fans it is
an occasion to show how loyal and dedicated they are to
their matinee icon.
The day
the film was released, fans in some theatres in the city
liberally distributed chocolates and sweets to share
their uninhibited joy.
Each
fan tested the strength of his vocal chord while
whistles were loud enough to puncture eardrums.
Primitive practices
D.
Samuel Lawrence, a retired English professor, came hard
on such practices and went on to say it “is a step that
takes people back to primitive stage”.
“It is
ridiculous and very difficult to understand. Even Rajni
Kant will not have expect such adulation. In fact, he
will not like his fans to react to his film in this way.
Such an exaggerated importance will take us nowhere.”
Brushing aside any negative remark, Bala. Thamburaj, one
of the members of Rajni Kant Welfare Association city
unit, says: “Our star enjoys a demi-god status here. It
is two years since, the release of ‘Chandramukhi’, our
‘thalaivar’ has acted in movies. Even now the film is
running
successfully in a theatre in Chennai crossing 800 days.
Our prime job now is to make ‘Sivaji’ a mega hit.
Judging by the overwhelming response of fans and the
public, we are confident of breaking all records.”
Omnipresent
It is
not just the uneducated school dropouts perpetuating
such adulation. Rajni Kant’s fans are omnipresent. There
are reports of medical students standing in long queues
to reserve a ticket for the show in Delhi. A big IT
company, in order to facilitate its employees enjoy a
hassle-free viewing of the film, booked the entire
theatre for an exclusive show for its staff.
With
tickets reportedly booked till August, those who have
been lucky enough to watch it in the first week say the
movie is “Tamil but filmed in purely Hollywood style”.
Many have drawn parallels with Chhatrapati Shivaji, the
17th century ruler of Marathas. “If the Maratha icon was
the terror for Mughal juggernauts, our idol is the
terror for all black money launderers in the movie. It
is not only an entertainer but also has a strong message
for the people,” says S. Vellaichamy, an ardent fan and
a member of the Alwarpuram Rajni Welfare Association.
People
may see effective marketing strategy behind the film’s
release that has made it the talk of the town.
But the
number of Rajni Kant fans seems to be only swelling
after every release. Leave alone the debate whether it
is good or bad for the society.
What no
one can deny is that his movies are thorough
entertainers.
Source : The Hindu
|