Wary Warrior

Rajinikanth has chosen to build an organisational machinery before formally launching his party. But his response to the Thoothukudi protests have angered even his ardent fans.

- Lakshmi Subramanian

On May 31 morning, as he set out from his Poes Garden residence in Chennai to meet the people of Thoothukudi, everything appeared perfectly scripted for Rajinikanth. “I am going as an actor to meet the people and console them,” he said. “If they see an actor like me, they will be happy.” But, at Thoothukudi, things went awry for the superstar as he lost his cool, caught in the middle of angry protestors. When he returned in the evening, he looked like an inept politician.

“If you go on protesting for anything and everything, Tamil Nadu will become a graveyard,” an angry Rajinikanth told the media. “There were anti-social elements in Thoothukudi, and they were the reason for the riots. They attacked policemen in uniform. That is wrong.” Rajinikanth got upset after a young man, as a mark of protest, asked him at a Thoothukudi hospital, “Who are you?” He maintained decorum at the hospital and replied, “I am Rajinikanth. I have come from Chennai.” But, he decided to return to Chennai immediately. He had planned to meet some of the injured and hand over a compensation of 02 lakh to each of them. But, it was left to officials of his fan club, the Rajini Makkal Mandram (RMM), to distribute the cheques.

Rajinikanth, who on December 31 announced that his brand of politics would be “spiritual”, is turning out to be not so different from other politicians. On May 9, Rajinikanth fans who were gathered at the sprawling YMCA grounds in Chennai for the audio launch of his latest movie, Kaala, were stunned when they found that everything was painted black. Even the cast and crew members were dressed in black to suit the theme of the movie. It was perhaps an indication of how Rajinikanth, who normally prefers saffron, is changing colours, with an eye on the chief minister's post.