Kabali trailer goes viral and Rajnikanth, Superstar, is back in business

The teaser of Kabali ,directed by Pa Ranjith, suggests that this will be yet another movie portraying the larger than life image of the superstar. If rumours about its plot are true, this may be yet another Baasha (1994) in which he acted as a stylish Mumbai based don. The Kabali budget is estimated at around Rs 100 crore.

Leading analyst of the south Indian film industry, Sreedhar Pillai, said it was very important for Rajinikanth to make a success of it as he needed a hit. “Unlike earlier, the trailer itself is impressive and it presents the image of Rajinikanth in a way that caters to his fans,” Pillai said.

Kabali will be released after the Tamil Nadu polls, a few days after the new government’s swearing in at Fort St. George. It is almost fitting
because he is one actor, after MGR, who had dabbled in politics in erratic way. Even this time he had been expected to play a major role for the BJP until he suddenly developed cold feet and backed out.

He entered politics in mid-90s and boldly declared that “nobody could save Tamil Nadu if Jayalalithaa is elected to power again” at the peak of 1996 elections; he faced a tough time in 2004 when Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) attacked his movies for his smoking scenes in Baba (2002); he was later seen avoiding ‘bad habits’ in Chandramukhi (2005). In these elections, Vijayakanth provoked Rajnikanth fans who burnt his effigies after he mocked the actor by saying, “Vijayakanth is afraid of only good people with good hearts. I will not withdraw like Rajnikanth.”

This superstar of Tamil Nadu who often celebrates with spiritual sojourns in the Himalayas is also different in another respect: he never appears like a superstar outside the cinema. Leading actors in the south, including Mammootty and Mohanlal are cautious of their appearance and always wear a wig; Rajinikanth always presents himself as he is. “That is the magic of Rajinikanth and that is why people admire him. He presents his larger than life image only in the movies because movies are meant for that. He finds the idea of wearing wig for a public function weird,” said a close aide.

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