Kalabhavan Sajeevan has been living a dual life for the last more than two decades.
The Rajini imitation has become such an integral part of his life that the mimicry artiste does not know if many of his mannerisms are his own or have been acquired for the ‘super star act’.
Starting with imitating ‘Thalaivar’ way back in 1993, Sajeevan’s performance has been recognised as one of the top Rajini acts in the mimicry circles.
The latest addition to his repertoire was the one-minute module in which he appears as five popular Rajini characters to the backdrop of their punch dialogues.
“I spend a week to master the dialogues from new releases during which I deliver them throughout the day,” said Sajeevan who has now adopted the ‘Kabali’ look.
Sagar Shiyas, a 51-year-old mimicry artiste from Muvattupuzha, by multiple accounts, is the first to imitate Rajini. He was swept over by this “cool” actor in his very first movie and has since then unfailingly watched every Rajini movie at least thrice.
“When I started imitating him in the nineties, Rajini had little following in Kerala. That changed with the release of his blockbuster Baasha ,” recalls Shiyas who still remembers his first Rajini dialogue from the 1987 movie Manithan . Since then, he has toured the globe and enthralled audience mimicking Rajini.
Rajesh, a mimicry artiste from Thiruvananthapuram, was so much in awe of the star that he added ‘Kanth’ to his name when he started off 15 years ago.
One of his most popular performances is a 10-minute video in which he come dressed in 10 popular Rajini characters in quick succession. Rajesh was a much-sought-after man, as he was invited to perform at various places including at a theatre ahead of the screening.
