By Sudha G Tilak
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6252108.stm
And now Sivaji - The Boss, a Tamil film starring Rajnikanth, is raking in money at the box office and playing to packed houses.
It cost 650 million rupees ($16m) to make and brought Rajnikanth a pay cheque of 200 million rupees, making him the highest paid film star in a movie-mad country.
Since being released on 15 June, some 800 prints of the film have flooded theatres across India and other parts of the world with large Tamil populations - North America, the UK, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia and Sri Lanka.
Tickets worth 17 million rupees were sold out in the southern Indian city of Madras (Chennai) alone within days of the film's release.
Working-class hero
At the core of Sivaji's success is obviously Rajnikanth, lovingly called Rajni by his fans, in what is his 100th Tamil film."A Rajni film remains a selling proposition," says Tamil film historian Anandan.
Sivaji is a colourful spectacle, awash with the razzmatazz of whirling song and dance sequences and comic acts.
In the film, playing on the current flavour of middle-class India, Rajnikanth plays an altruistic non-resident Indian who does not forget his humble roots and returns home to Chennai to set up educational institutions for the underprivileged.
The local bureaucrats and greedy businessmen thwart his good intentions. Rajnikanth wreaks vengeance on the villains' ill-gotten wealth and emerges victorious. His noble intentions are hailed and he gets the girl in the end too. Typically, a Rajnikanth film is a celebration, a roller-coaster ride into the fantasy world of riches, improbable designs in plot, silly gags, volatile dramatics and the undying goodness of spirit.
"A Rajni film offers what comic super heroes like Spiderman do - goodwill and hope," says filmmaker KV Anand.
Sivaji follows the successful formula of the star's capers that made him a super star.
These were stories of Rajnikanth playing a working-class hero, irascible and ready to avenge the wrongs visited upon his family and friends by rich and cruel villains. He would win the beautiful heroine using traditional macho methods.
Macho hero
Rajnikanth's films often show him taking on the might of a powerful and domineering women opponent, a hint at his open political confrontations with the former chief minister of Tamil Nadu, J Jayalalitha.
"Just as James Bond's questionable brand of machismo has its followers in Britain, Rajnikanth's chauvinism and bravura stokes the fire in Tamil youth," says Chennai-based analyst D Narayana Reddy.
No wonder he remains one of India's biggest super stars, often overshadowing his Bollywood counterpart, Amitabh Bachchan.
His fans tattoo themselves with his name, write his name in their blood and have opened some 15,000 fan clubs all over the country.
They worship him like a demi-god when he appears on screen, performing Hindu rituals of showering him with flowers, garlanding his billboards, even bathing his visage in milk in the halls.
Enigma
Rajnikanth's dramatic deliveries and comic gestures appeal to children too, who are enthralled by his antics on screen.
Despite his fame, Rajnikanth as a person remains somewhat enigmatic.
He guards his privacy fiercely, unlike other stars who advertise and endorse products.
His larger-than-life screen presence has also spawned political ambitions - there has been widespread speculation that he would opt for a career in politics one day.
Tamil Nadu has a prolific film industry - it produced 126 films in 2006 and has had some 62 films released in the first half of 2007.
The state has a history of three film stars turned chief ministers, including Jayalalitha.
Critics say that in trying to appeal to a new audience, Rajni's tale of social vendetta is turning stale.
But for his adoring fans, he carries a profile similar to that of a rap star - a bling master in outlandish costumes, whose chutzpah and appeal transcends the ghettos of Tamil Nadu.
NST Online » Features2007/06/20
Cinema: Cool Rajni heats up ‘Sivaji’
By : K.N. VIJIYAN
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Thursday/Features/20070620185649/Article
SIVAJI THE BOSS (Tamil) directed by S. ShankarStarring Rajnikanth, Shriya, Vivek, Suman, Manivannan, Raguvaran, Vadivukarasi, Pattimandram Raja and Uma.
FINALLY, after all the false starts, Sivaji The Boss is here. This must be the most eagerly-awaited Tamil movie in the past two years. The excitement even ended in torn screens and seats at several theatres showing the movie on the first day.
So many people wanted to see the movie on the day it opened that the distributors were hard put meeting the demand. Some early preparations could have easily eased the situation. After all, the local distributor is said to have paid a whopping RM15 million for the movie rights, making it easily the most expensive Indian movie shown locally. But there’s no question that Sivaji is going to rewrite local film history at the box office.
Superstar Rajni’s earlier movie Chandramukhi also proved a gold mine for local movie distributors three years ago. People want to see Sivaji not just for Rajnikanth (remember that his Baba was a flop a few years ago) but also because of director Shankar — the man with the Midas touch. His previous eight movies were big hits because of their stories, songs and rich entertainment value.
Sivaji (Rajni’s original name before he became an actor was Shivaji Rao) is a funny movie with an important social message.Rajni stars as Sivaji, a software engineer who has made a huge fortune in the United States.
He returns to Madras to do good for his mother country. He wants to build a university and hospital for serve the poor. But the rich and corrupt ministers, led by a kingmaker Adiseshan (Suman), feel threatened and do all they can to lay obstacles in his path. Sivaji shows how one man can make a world of difference and how he vanquishes his enemies. Corruption is a favourite theme of Shankar’s.Sivaji once again proves how good the superstar is at comedy.
With Vivek as his sidekick (he proclaims the "Boss" in the film title stands for "Bachelor of Social Service"), Rajni brings down the house with his antics.There is one scene where the villain asks the hero (who is in disguise): "Are you Sivaji? The hero replies: "No, I am MGR," presenting him his passport showing M.G. Ravichandran. That was hilarious.Watch out for the scenes where Rajni does impersonations of Sivaji Ganesan, MGR and Kamalhaasan. The scenes where the hero woos heroine Shriya and her family are a bit overdone but still funny.
Scenes which show the hero and heroine in blond wigs look a bit silly but once you see the movie, you will agree they are really funny and suit the situation. What put me off were the long-drawn fights. Just because Rajni (aged 58 but still in great form) is the superstar, doesn’t mean the hero should be shown fighting 20 armed men single-handedly, however good it may be for his image.The production cost for Sivaji was said to be anything between 600 million and 840 million rupees (RM50 million and RM70 million), making it more expensive than the 50-million rupee Devdas (2002), which held the record for being the costliest indian movie ever made. Shankar has spent a fortune on the sets. The songs, composed by A.R. Rahman, have created new records in the music business.
I liked how they filmed Style (that’s where Rajni appears like a white man, thanks to digital wizardry) and Thee. I caught this movie at a Mid Valley Megamall cineplex in Kuala Lumpur but the songs seemed hardly impressive there could there be something wrong with the digital format mix? As usual, Rajni gives importance to his style, flipping a one-rupee coin a special way. He keeps saying "Cool". It is easy to love this guy; he’s that good on screen.That also sums up the movie nicely — Sivaji has got style and Rajni’s cool!
NST Online » Columns2007/07/09
Mahendra Ved: Movie fans bow to The Emperor's contradiction
By : Mahendra Ved
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Monday/Columns/20070709074917/Article
A BIT of history is being created on the cinema circuit of Delhi. For the first time ever, a non-Hindi, non-English film, a Tamil film without subtitles to be precise, is running at 20 screens across the city and its satellite towns.
The much-talked about Sivaji, The Boss, thespian Rajnikanth’s blockbuster, estimates show, is set to collect Rs2.5 billion (RM213 million) in box-office earnings over the next few weeks.Across India, the film raced to the Rs1 billion mark in the first two weeks. It stormed Sri Lanka, with "house full" boards and serpentine queues reported from seven theatres across the island nation.
In Malaysia, there were reports of near riots when the film did not start on schedule.The movie is not only reaping profits at home but is also a runaway hit at the British box office. Sivaji is being shown on 12 screens in Britain and has collected Rs13.6 million, one of the biggest collections ever made by an Indian movie in Britain.
It has also overtaken Hollywood biggies in Britain in terms of screen average in revenue collection.These earnings can be quantified, but Rajnikanth’s popularity cannot. Listen to Amitabh Bachchan, whose own popularity is phenomenal. In the celluloid arena where ego clashes are normal, the two have displayed euphoric mutual admiration.Never known to give interviews, Rajnikanth made an exception to say that he was "probably a king" but that Bachchan was "the emperor".
Amitabh disagreed. "Don’t believe a word of this ‘king’ and ‘emperor’ thing. We all know that he is The Emperor. I abhor epithets, but for him I will make exceptions, for he is truly exceptional."As for me, I was struck by his popularity each time I visited Tamil Nadu. It was a bit amusing to see youths shaving off a part of their foreheads to match Rajni’s receding hairline.I had to see Sivaji after all the hype and hoopla.
I know it would be sacrilege to tell any Rajni fan that I was part of a motley audience of no more than 30. But then, to escape the rush, I was seeing it on a working day at a downtown theatre with upper-middle class gentry around. The bemused gatekeepers, entirely from the north, assured me that it was "house full" on most days, especially over the weekends.
Sivaji has reinforced my belief that what goes by the pejorative "Bollywood" is cinematic, the Bengal cinema is literary and the South Indian cinema, particularly in the Tamil and Telugu languages, essentially theatrical. Each matches the psyche of the people it caters to.Since this is not meant to be a film review, my brief reactions about Sivaji are that it is well scripted, with a high level of finish in the technical departments.
The choice of colours is good. Too many dance numbers, opulently mounted. But none could be called vulgar.Performance-wise, it is Rajni all the way. He is very agile and supple for his age (58, officially). His off-screen persona — medium build, bald pat — is vastly different. The make-up, the get-up and the numerous wigs have done wonders.
I am captivated by Shreya Sharan, his heroine. A very striking and pleasing presence. Great figure and a lovely face to go with it. I would not be surprised if Bollywood snatches her away from the south, if she can manage Hindi, now that she has received national and international projection.
The reason why Rajni is popular with Tamils is obvious; why he is popular among non-Tamils in Japan and Southeast Asia is, I am told, because his stunts employ a mix of martial arts. But his universal appeal, I suspect, is because he wallows in extravaganza, while mouthing pro-poor slogans.
Audiences love this contradiction.Since I have not seen his other movies, I cannot surmise how much of Sivaji is autobiographical. Shivajirao Jadhav is Rajni’s real name. To think that he is a Maratha and not a Tamil.
His little humorous cameos of other greats of Tamil cinema like M.G.R. and Sivaji Ganesan gave me the impression that Sivaji is a personal celebration and a tribute to his peers. He is enjoying being at the peak.
But I would not risk saying that Sivaji is Rajni’s zenith; it had better be a landmark, like Bachchan’s present phase that is virtually a second career, with his best yet to come.New Delhi has a million Tamils.
But a lot of my Tamil friends, somewhat embarrassed by loud acting that is the norm in Tamil cinema, have not bothered to see Sivaji. But I know many non-Tamils who have seen it, and enjoyed it, even if they did not understand this very verbose film. For those who do, Rajni’s bullet-fast dialogue delivery is a treat.
A Tamil friend, having lived all his life away from Tamil Nadu, confessed: "Occasionally, I need to touch base."Delhi newspapers publicise Hindi and English films. Rajni does not fit in. For two weeks, the elitist Delhi Times did not even list the film. In the third, it had to make a separate mention.
Thanks to Sivaji, restaurants at the multiplex cinemas and shopping malls are trying to add South Indian food items like dosa, rasam, sambar and uthappam to the menu.The film has gone this far without the publicity and the "promos" that precede the release of a new film. Rajni or any of the stars did not make media appearances.
The product was perhaps meant to sell by itself. It has. Those who brought the film to the north were probably nervous earlier, but they are ecstatic now. To get optimum mileage, they are now trying to get the film dubbed in Hindi.But Sivaji has proved that cinema has its own language and not knowing Tamil is not really a handicap. Ask the majority non-Tamil audiences.
