A Secret Ballot At The Box Office

The success of Rajinikanth's latest film Kaala, will be vital for his political ambitions.

- G.C. Shekhar

A state awaits its hero’s utteran­ces with bated breath—and rec­eives only conflicting signals. Rajnikanth the film hero wants his people to agitate, but his pol­itical avatar warns them not to protest too much. “Which Rajni do I follow?” is a real doubt that has racked the minds of his millions of fans.

Though his larger-than-life personality and heroism on screen have been shaped by the ‘punch’ lines he delivers in his films, Rajnikanth had always advised his fans to stay grounded. “What I do in movies is all make-believe. I only follow what the director tells me. I speak his lines. But real life is different—do not confuse it with cinema. Your family comes first, being a fan or public activist comes next,” he would frequently counsel.

So Kaala, the first film to release (June 7) after Rajnikanth announced his political ambitions, will be a test for his fans, a test to separate the star from the politician. Inside the theatre, they can celebrate their ‘thalaivar’ with lit camphor and flowers thrown at the screen. But outside, they will have to accept a leader shaped by the events of the day, surviving political pulls and the pressures of the public gaze—as when Santoshraj, an injured victim of the Thoothukudi police firing, nonchalantly asked Rajnikanth at the hospital, “So who are you,” and went on to query why the star had taken so long to visit them.