Rajinikanth at Kaala music launch: People wrote me off after recent failures but they've been doing that for 40 years

The grand audio launch of Rajinikanth’s Kaala was held at the YMCA Stadium in Chennai. The media and the fans waited with bated breath for a political speech by Rajinikanth’s but the actor said: “The day is yet to come. I have duties to perform and the good time will soon come to Tamil Nadu.” Rajinikanth also added, “Yes, there is politics in Kaala but it’s not a political film”. Rajinikanth and his son-in-law Dhanush (who has produced Kaala) delivered candid yet thoughtful speeches in front of the thousands of fans present at the audio launch venue. Dhanush went down memory lane to recall how he started his production house. “When my brother Selvaraghavan and I struggled to get an identity for ourselves in the industry, we took an oath to provide opportunities to newcomers in the future. Kaala is our 12th film”, said Dhanush who introduced many young talents in the film industry through his production house Wunderbar Films. Dhanush said he has learnt a lot of things from Rajinikanth. “Despite being the biggest superstar in India, Rajini sir still has the dedication and stays true to his producer. When Ranjith finished the narration of Kaala, Rajini sir wanted me to listen to the story and only after my nod, he agreed to do this project. Rajini sir works for the betterment of the film and doesn’t care much about his health, he worked until 3 am in the morning for Kaala”. “Rajinikanth sir started his career as a villain, slowly became a character artist and convinced people as a star and achieved superstar status. Today, he is Thalaivar and I leave it for the people and God to decide what he would become in future,” added Dhanush and the fans gave a thunderous applause for the Aadukalam actor’s heartwarming speech. [caption id=“attachment_4463703” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Kaala music launch[/caption] Kaala is probably the only audio launch where Rajinikanth delivered a lengthy speech. “For me, this is not an audio launch, it looks like a success meet. I think Sivaji was the last success meet in my career. Though Endhiran was a blockbuster, we couldn’t celebrate it because I was hospitalised in Singapore. Later, with all your love, I made a comeback with Kochadaiiyaan but it wasn’t a commercial success. Kochadaiiyaan was a failure because I worked with people who think they are too smart. It’s perfectly fine to work with intelligent people but too much of smartness is dangerous because they would think a lot and the end result will not be fruitful. Later, I accepted Lingaa because the basic story talked about interlinking of rivers, which is my lifetime ambition but the film’s failure taught me a lesson that I should not be romancing young heroines. After these two failures, a section of people wrote me off and it didn’t surprise me because they have been doing this for forty years”, said a smiling Rajinikanth. Rajinikanth also opened up on his first meet with Ranjith. “My daughter Soundarya introduced me to director Ranjith who is not an opportunist. He is hard-working, talented and at the same time, wants all his friends to be successful. Though I liked the story of Kabali, I wasn’t convinced with its slow pace and gave my final nod, only after the film’s producer Thanu hugged Ranjith and said that the sentiment portions would work with the audiences. Kabali was a success but I told Ranjith to not ask the opinion of my fans for three days as they would not like the slow-moving screenplay, they want me to hit the target with amazing speed”, said Rajinikanth, surprising the audience by openly speaking about his recent failures. [caption id=“attachment_4463707” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Rajinikanth at the Kaala music launch[/caption] Talking about Kaala, Rajinikanth said, “I have been observing the progress of Wunderbar Films, they don’t have debts and I am impressed with their professional approach. Dhanush and his team release their films on the stipulated schedule, they also take care of all the actors. One fine day, I frankly asked my elder daughter Aishwarya whether her husband has any plans to produce a film featuring me but she told me to speak to Dhanush. My son-in-law told me that he only waited for my call. Later, Dhanush suggested a script written by Vetrimaaran but it was a political subject and at that point of time, I wasn’t politically driven. We also had other options but Ranjith’s name popped up again and when we approached, he came up with a story set in the Dharavi slum, it’s a beautiful script deal with the inequality in the human race. However, I suggested one condition, asked him to make a Rajinikanth film in Ranjith’s style”. Rajinikanth also heaped praise on Nana Patekar. “In my career, Antony in Baasha and Neelambari in Padayappa are the two powerful villains. Now, Hari Dada (Nana Patekar) is my third favourite antagonist. Nana has delivered an impeccable performance. Even Bollywood filmmakers say that it’s not an easy task to work with Nana Patekar but Ranjith extracted the work with his love,” said Rajinikanth who advised his fans to take care their respective families and spread positivity. The film’s director Ranjith said: “I’m a big fan of Rajinikanth’s real-life qualities but not many directors explored this side. Yes, Rajini sir wanted me to do a commercial film but I handled an important topic in Kaala because his voice is powerful and through which I have conveyed a much-needed message. I think the politics we handled in Kaala is very important”.