Posted on August 13, 2020
In which I answer a few questions on an older film… or a new one… or talk about actors and directors… or take on a few YouTube comments…
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Baradwaj Rangan 
krishramavajula
August 13, 2020
The ‘attitude’ of Rajini is an interesting observation BR. In films like Mullum Malarum, his arrogance is explained as he is a self-made man. His character in Petta and Darbar also had a heightened sense of arrogance about himself, but there is no justification for that. I found that to be disconnecting. You can’t make the character talk in a rude manner and act with arrogance just because he is Rajini. What’s your take on that?
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MANK
August 14, 2020
My favorite Rajni performances
Chakravarthi in Nettrikann ( My absolute favorite Rajni performance, never tire of watching this one, that libertine badassery , phew!)
Alex Pandian in Moondru mugham
Annamalai
Baasha
Awargal
Moondru mudichu
Mullum Malarum
Thalapathi
Endhiran
And Chaalbaz of n hindi
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madhusudhan194
August 14, 2020
My top 10 Rajini performances:
1. Thalapathi
2. 2.0 (Citti 2.0 and 3.0)
3. Thillu Mullu – which is a glorious display of his effortless comic timing
4. Mullum Malarum
5. Kabali
6. Enthiran
7. Annamalai
8. Baasha
9. Ninaithale Inikkum
10. Petta
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KS
August 14, 2020
@MANK:
Awesome of you to mention Netrikkan. Its never talked about enough. That senior Rajini was so deliciously badass!
There are several other movies which I have watched so many times I’ve lost count. These are the generic fun SPMuthuraman-type movies, which really allowed Rajini to grow on all of us even more. They might not be gushed over by critics (like Mullum Malarum), but they have so much sentimental value for me. Even today, if one of these comes on KTV I’ll drop everything else and sit to watch again. Like:
Thambikku Endha Ooru
Naan Sigappu Manidhan
Naan Mahaan Alla
Thee
Thaai Meedhu Sathiyam (Rajni as a gun-slinging cowboy!)
Velaikkaran
Maapillai
Guru Sishyan
Paayum Puli
Mr Bharath
Dharmathin Thalaivan
Adhisaya Piravi
Padikkathavan
I also want to mention Johnny, another less mentioned gem. Its a weird movie, sure. But I think Rajini looked his best, and this romance scene is my favorite:
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Srinivas R
August 14, 2020
May Facorite Rajini performances ( taking off form MANK)
Mullum Malarum
Thalapathy
Johnny
Nallavanukku Nallavan
Annamalai
Thillumullu
Moondru Mudichu
Endhiran
Baasha
Guru Sishyan
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TambiDude
August 14, 2020
And Rajni’s fav singer SPB is in serious condition and on life support. Oh man. This is not good.
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Srinivas R
August 14, 2020
KS: That scene and the interplay between Sridevi and Rajini, makes me smile everytime I watch it.
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abishekspeare
August 14, 2020
Why are some AskBRs short in length compared to others? This one got over too soon 😦
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MANK
August 14, 2020
KS, Rajni’s every moment as Chakravarthi is so delightful. It’s impossible to imagine any other actor pulling that off, and the song theeratha vilayattu pillai
And I forgot to mention Johnny, that moment with Sridevi is so wonderful. He looked really good in those early Mahendran films It was before he started using heavy makeup, keeping with his burgeoning superstardom. It took away a lot from that natural, earthy sexiness he possessed.
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H. Prasanna
August 15, 2020
My absolute favourite guilty pleasure is Baba.
What a wonderful mess of Rajni’s self-referential politicospiritual journey which was far out, trippy, and nondescript. His persona in this movie, the acting and styling, and the hero’s journey is so ridiculously weird. What were they thinking? Who is this “hero” on a personal spiritual journey that wants to do good for people but the system is so broken he can’t, even with literal superpowers? The badness and absurdity of the narrative is a culmination of the confusion with Rajni’s handling of the cultlike superstar influence over his fans for political ends.
The music was like AR Rahman composed a homage to Rajni-Deva music on a layover of his flight to Bombay. Absurd songs like aayiram adhisayam amainthathu baba jaathàgam are so fun. The casting was a kitchen sink of legendary masala actors like Amrish Puri and Nambiar with new age niche masala character actors like Sayaji Shinde and Ashish Vidyarthi. And then they went and cast a relatively unknown face as the main villain! Sujatha, who played his wife in his first movie, returns as Rajni’s mom. There is a nod to Japanese fans with his sister Keiko. And a Ramya Krishnan neelambari cameo.
Non-sequitur punch dialogues, inexplicable dance moves, spiritual adventure animation sequences, a callback to Goundamani heyday insult comedy, long monologues with Rajni’s trademark “kutti stories”. All this make you wonder if you are watching the same movie, or even a movie, or a fan fiction acid trip fever dream of the Rajni phenomenon?!
And the masala moments that take the cake: Baba’s car ride with the CM. Rajni asking everyone to get out, after he ambushes Mansha Koirala’s betrothal, except one person because he replies “friend” when asked who he is. The Gakkan-Kamarajar allusion to the faceless CM and his honest, loyal second-in-command. How a drop of wax changes the Baba symbol in the hands of the cult praying to kill Baba’s powers.
Oh my, this is what Rajni is all about for Tamil cinema and people of Tamil Nadu, we can’t figure out the man or his magic, but we are drawn by the irresistible charisma and attitude into a whirlwind of emotions, fascinated when watching him on screen and talking about our fascination of him off screen.
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Anupama
August 15, 2020
Valli,Aval Appadithan,Ninaithale Inikkum,Thillu Mullu,Apoorva Ragangal (impactful in the short screen time),16 Vayadhinile,Avargal,Pollathavan,Moondru Mudichu,Chandramukhi
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Ex. Voldemort
August 15, 2020
Not relevant to this thread,but this popped up in my YouTube suggestions.
It was a great video BR, notwithstanding some gossipy questions in the Q/A session and the guy proposing the vote of thanks forgetting your name.
You have said you have always had the love for writing, so do you think it was fortunate that the first book you wrote happened to be on cinema (your other love). It could have been anything else given your journo background, or did you always think it would happen this way?
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Honest Raj
August 15, 2020
I wish he’d not done these films – Allauddinum Arputha Vilakkum, Thangamagan, Thudikkum Karangal, Naan Mahaan Alla, Maaveeran, Manidhan, Oorkaavalan, Naattukku Oru Nallavan, Valli, Kuselan.
I can watch films such as Pudukkavithai and Siva purely because of his presence.
The period around late ’80s was a mixed bag for him in terms of BO success. Guru Sishyan, Rajathi Raja, Raja Chinna Roja, Maappillai and Adhisaya Piravi were quite enjoyable.
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KayKay
August 15, 2020
pH, I’d rather read your comments again than sit through that train wreck called Baba. Am glad you witnessed a mighty conflagration where I just saw a dumpster fire.
But credit the makers of this and that other epic Rajini misfire Kochadaiyaan for some world class temerity: ending both on a cliffhanger and promising a sequel!
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KayKay
August 15, 2020
“It’s impossible to imagine any other actor pulling that off, and the song theeratha vilayattu pillai”
MANK, I’d argue it’s something Kamal could have aced in his sleep, but agree that it’s such a great scene and a great character because that’s a Rajini persona we lost in his ascent to superstardom…..his sleazy sexuality. It’s a reminder of a bygone era when his fingers were used for more than mere air-swishes.
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MANK
August 15, 2020
KayKay , I doubt Kamal could be so effortlessly sleazy and caricaturish, because he’s a more sophisticated and ‘deep’ actor . The closest Kamal came to doing something like this was the mayor character in Indiran chandiran, which I felt was a bit too labored. Chakravarthi played to the strengths of Rajni as a Toshiro Mifune kind of broad, physical performer, moving and talking at breakneck speed, effortlessly mixing sly humor and drama. The way Rajni moves on screen is unmatched, even by Kamal IMO.
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MANK
August 15, 2020
. It’s a reminder of a bygone era when his fingers were used for more than mere air-swishes.
Yup, Netri Kann is a great example of how all those frills that came to be associated with superstar’s style could be used to create a grand ‘character’ performance.
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Madan
August 16, 2020
Both in acting out villainy in an overt way or general swagger (positive/negative), Rajni is way ahead of Kamal. It just comes naturally to him. Kamal’s feline-like smooth villain act of Sigappu Rojakkal as well as the underestimated avenging angel of Appu Raja were brilliant because there, the evil/angst was internalised and emanated seemingly from his being rather than being depicted by gestures or gait.
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H. Prasanna
August 16, 2020
@KayKay Thank you for engaging with my rant. I felt the story one line was there: Will a man on a personal spiritual journey with power over his fans get over himself and take a stand? Although they threw the kitchen sink at it and came up with a shoddy and lackluster feature, I was disappointed they didn’t explore his wrought relationship with his fans.
The contradictions in the premise is fascinating to me because you have to tell your fans he is just a human, whose personal journey is more important to him. But, the very premise on which his fandom is built is that he is no ordinary human. Then, they have a spiritual vindication of his power over people: Because he is the chosen one and it’s his manifest destiny. But, Rajni becoming a superstar itself is his fans choosing someone in their likeness to love, a servant leader, not a god/yogi or because it was their destiny.
Overall, I felt the story is a more honest reflection of his state of mind than his real speeches on spirituality and political actions. It was a movie Rajni made for himself than the audience, and it was intriguing to see what he thought described his success. After it failed, he stopped making any personal/spiritual statements in his films. Now, he has entered politics to actually “lead people” but it feels like a gimmick to milk his brand or him just being used, more by his financiers, than his fans.
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subsri99
August 16, 2020
Rajni-ism is dead. Long live Rajni-ism!
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Kaveri
August 16, 2020
BR, to the Rajni in Japan question – Actually Muthu was popular in Japan not because of Rajni but because of Meena. Japanese people loved the chubby indian princess like costumes and innocent manga character-like eyes of Meena. I know this from Japanese people i have met who showed me the DVD back then. The DVD has her on the cover and it has mostly her scenes extracted as separate clips.
This is how the DVD cover looked like:
https://www.discogs.com/AR-Rahman-Muthu-Original-Motion-Picture-Soundtrack-%E3%83%A0%E3%83%88%E3%82%A5%E8%B8%8A%E3%82%8B%E3%83%9E%E3%83%8F%E3%83%A9%E3%82%B8%E3%83%A3/release/11338470
On another similar topic, have you seen all the Japanese views the song Galti se mistake has gotten ? Watching him in that song again reminded me of what you wrote about Rishi being a song actor. Ranbir is also one of those.
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Guru
August 17, 2020
@Kaveri, I think it was a marketing technique to raise Rajini’s popularity at the international level. I may be wrong, but I don’t see ‘The Dancing Maharaja’ in any of the Japanese box office stats. I also checked with my Japanese colleague, if she had watched the movie. She is from Tokyo and does follow movies to some extent, but hadn’t heard of the movie or Rajini. Again, I may be wrong, somebody can clarify.
Even the rest of the world, Rajini (and Tamil movies in general) are very popular because of the Srilankan Tamils who have migrated to almost all developed countries. I think Shahrukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan are more popular among the foreign audience than Rajinikanth.
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