The very mention of the name Rajinikanth is enough to draw a smile on AR Murugadoss’ face.
A fan of the Superstar, first and foremost, the filmmaker is also responsible for Rajini’s upcoming film, Darbar , which is scheduled to hit the screens on January 9. It is also the second straight film after Kaala (2018) that Rajinikanth, 69, will be presented in a middle-aged avatar.
“It is not that difficult to show him as a person in his fifties. His physique, energy and style of talking will give you that impression. With a bit of makeup, the correct hair (wig), costumes and Santosh Sivan’s (cinematographer) lighting, it wasn’t difficult at all. I was quite surprised myself, and he (Rajini) too adapted easily,” says Murugadoss.
Big project
The director had long been in talks with Rajinikanth to make a film. The latter remarked during Darbar ’s audio launch event last month that he had called on Murugadoss after watching Ramanaa (2002), and expressed his desire to work together. While Murugadoss says their dates in the intervening 17 years never matched, he also reveals the hiccups involved, especially after an invitation from the Superstar comes through.
“Only after the shoot starts can you be guaranteed that you are working a film with Rajini sir. Look, for his experience and the journey he has had so far... he tends to listen to stories from three filmmakers simultaneously. He also changes his decisions easily, and the people who go to narrate scripts to him are prepared for that eventuality. So, it does not mean that because Rajini sir liked the script that the project is locked,” he says.
“When Rajini sir used to call me in the beginning, I wouldn’t approach with an intent to land the project. My thought would be, ‘If it happens, then it happens’. The issue begins when talks progress seriously. Rumours start coming out, and your friends and family too start congratulating you... then you want it to happen for real,” he laughs.
Unloading sentiment
It was the police character that made Rajini come on board, Murugadoss reveals. But Tamil cinema is known for its ‘sentiments’ (read as: superstitions).
“There is a sentiment here that except for Alex Pandian (Rajini’s character in Moondru Mug am), his other films in which he played a cop were not successful. When I did Thuppakki (2012) also, there was a similar sentiment... that if the hero was an army man’s character, then the film would not work. I cited the Thuppakki example to Rajini sir, and told him to not believe in the sentiment. I said that if the script was good enough for him, then we should be okaying the film,” he says.
Rajinikanth and A.R. Murugadoss
One sentiment that Murugadoss was fine with using in Darbar was getting singer SP Balasubrahmanyam to croon for Rajinikanth in the Chumma Kizhi song. “Both Anirudh [Ravichander, the music director] and I were on board with this idea,” he adds.
But Darbar , and the character of Aditya Arunasalam, was not even the first script that the duo discussed and had okayed. The filmmaker reveals that both of them had agreed to make a sequel to Chandramukhi (Rajini’s 2005 film) initially.
“I loved the character of Vettaiyan immensely. I asked him if we could spin a story around just Vettaiyan and the doctor character, Saravanan. He loved the idea and said yes. But then, as I thought about it, there were practical difficulties. We were doing a film for Lyca Productions . Chandramukhi was by Sivaji Productions. If we broach the idea of a film, then Sivaji Productions would want to produce it, and Rajini sir cannot say no to them. Then Vasu sir (who directed Chandramukhi ) will say that he would love to develop the character,” he laughs, before adding, “So, after a week I met Rajini sir, and told him that we will drop the idea. When I told him the reasons, he was like, “yeah, yeah... you would have had to speak to all of them’” (laughs)
Last action hero
What he has instead come up now is a product that is set to scale in order to match the demands of not only Rajinikanth’s fan base, but also the expectations as determined by his market value. “You know, actors, as they grow older, their markets shrink. That is usual. It is only Rajini sir for whom this trend seems to happen in the opposite. His market is expanding in newer territories... like Hindi,” he says.
It was the Hindi language market that the filmmaker had in mind when the team cut Darbar ’s trailer. As the team expected, the film’s Hindi language trailer scored higher number of views on YouTube than the Tamil one. “In Tamil, Darbar would anyway get a ‘Rajini film opening’, even if it did not have a trailer. Our target was the Hindi audience. The perception is that a ‘south film’ should have plentiful action, and only then will there be an opening. So, we employed a company based in Mumbai to cut the trailer,” Murugadoss adds.
The filmmaker has found working with such larger-than-life screen heroes, especially the senior artistes among them, to be a cakewalk. “Whether it was Vijayakanth sir in Ramanaa , or now with Rajini sir in Darbar , there is a big comfort factor working with experienced stars. They will have lots of doubts during the script narration stage, but after the shoot starts, they know that the director is the master, and that we need to listen to what he says. They do not differentiate between younger and older directors. There is no arguing or disagreement on the set,” he says.
While the fan in him does not know yet when Rajinikanth will bring the curtains down on his career, Murugadoss knows that the actor is someone who does not plan things. “That is the impression I got after my many conversations with him. He lets things flow, and he goes about doing his work,” he concludes.
