It happened 38 years ago, during the release of Rajini sir’s Bairavi. I was distributing the film in Chennai city and I had started to publicise the film like no one had ever done before. ‘Stills’ Ravi had given me a few pictures from the film…. one of Rajini sir with a gun, another with a whip in one hand and a third with him holding a snake. These were not things we’d seen our heroes do back then, so I got huge posters made of these images, expecting the audience to throng the theatres. Instead of the usual four-sheet 60x80 posters, I introduced the much bigger six-sheet 60x120 posters. I also erected a massive cut-out outside Plaza theatre with the words “SUPERSTAR RAJINI in BAIRAVI” written below it.
The film was more than business to me. I wanted to make a name for myself, and these posters made sure people took notice of this new guy called Thanu. Every show was running houseful and that’s when I was told Rajini sir would be watching the film in T. Nagar’s now-defunct Rajakumari theatre.
He was accompanied by Panchu Arunachalam and K. N. Subbu and I remember seeing him for the first time as he made his way up to his balcony seat, wading through a sea of fans. During the interval, Rajini sir called to see the film’s distributor, so I ran up from my first-class seat to meet him. He was wearing black trousers with a beautiful white T-shirt with pink piping. I had never seen anyone as stylish. He shook my hand, hugged me and said, “Fantastic poster! Beautiful publicity!”
Rajinikanth in an image from 'Bhairavi'. A few days later, the film’s director M. Bhaskar and Kalaignanam came to my office with a message from Rajini sir. He didn’t seem too keen that I referred to him as ‘Superstar’, as he felt there were bigger stars around like MGR and Sivaji Ganesan. I assured both of them that I would change the posters and sent them away. Like I promised, I changed the cut-outs the very next day. The new one read “THE GREATEST SUPERSTAR RAJINI in BAIRAVI’.
Later, when I was producing my own film Yaar?, we wanted him to play a guest role in it. He was dubbing for Kai Kodukkum Kai then and when I approached him, he readily accepted. It was a small scene where we showed him praying. For this, he was kind enough to let us shoot at his house, in his own pooja room. To this day, I believe the reason for all my success is his prayers.
With this cameo, I can claim that my career as a producer began with Rajini sir. If I wasn’t already making two films after Kabali, I’d have loved to have retired now, having started and ended my career with him.
Our friendship has extended beyond our working relationship in these years. I’ve always been inspired by his simplicity. For instance, I’ve never bought a luxury car because Rajini sir doesn’t need one.
A memory I hold close to my heart is how he stalled the shoot of Padayappa just to attend my daughter’s wedding. He drove from Mysore to Bangalore and then took a flight to reach Chennai. He attended the wedding, blessed my daughter, went home for sometime and rejoined the shoot the same night. It’s like he’s always been there for me.
- S. Thanu, Producer
