In an interview to his mentor K. Balachander, Rajinikanth once said that he would consider writing an autobiography only if he felt he could be as true to himself as M.K. Gandhi was in My Experiments With Truth . About a year after that interview, Naman Ramachandran’s painstakingly written biography, Rajinikanth: The Definitive Biography, came into the spotlight, one that devoted substantial space to Shivaji Rao Gaekwad’s early years and rise in Kollywood.
Naman’s book, at least the first half of it, came as a delight to the cine-enthusiast in me for whom films like Aval Appadithan , Apoorva Raagangal, Avargal and Thappu Thalangal represent the best in Tamil cinema. To discover the man and his origins, Naman journeyed through Karnataka, talking to Shivaji’s brother Satyanarayana and his best friend from his Bangalore Transport Service (BTC) days, Raja Badhar. The latter was the driver of bus route 10A, where Shivaji started as a bus conductor. We realise that right from the way Shivaji handed over tickets to the way he handled Duryodhana’s mace during a BTS play, the style he is known for today was intrinsic to his very personality. It is a revelation to know that Balachander rechristened Shivaji as Rajinikanth (the colour of dusk) — after a character in his play Major Chandrakanth — as a remark on the latter’s skin colour.
The book provides an almost film-by-film narration of Rajinikanth’s rise. From how he got his maiden role as Pandiyan in Apoorva Raagangal to his early days as an on-screen villain in Kannada and Tamil films, to how the tag ‘superstar’ got associated with his name, the book’s first half is a delight both for Rajini fans and serious cinephiles.
If the biographer in Naman fuels the first part, the second part is totally dominated by the fan in him. But considering the near-god-like status Rajini enjoys, it would not have been easy to present any critical writing of his work. For a more honest appraisal of Rajini’s flaws and failings, we have to wait for the god’s moment of epiphany when he decides to write about himself.
narayanan.g@thehindu.co.in
