 Cover of the first edition | |
| Author | Naman Ramachandran |
|---|---|
| Country | India |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Biography |
| Publisher | New Delhi, Penguin Viking |
Publication date | 12 December 2012 [1] |
| Media type | Print (hardcover and paperback) |
| Pages | 290 pp. |
| ISBN | 9780670086207 |
| OCLC | 825198202 |
Rajinikanth: The Definitive Biography is a 2012 biography of the Indian actor Rajinikanth, written by Naman Ramachandran. It is the second biography of the actor, following The Name is Rajinikanth (2008) by Gayathri Sreekanth. [2]
Naman Ramachandran writes for Sight & Sound and Variety and has previously authored Lights, Camera, Masala: Making Movies in Mumbai . Ramachandran wanted to meet Rajinikanth when he began his work on the book but was not allowed to meet him because of health. Later, Rajinikanth sent him a note. The author said that he had "tried to humanise Rajinikanth". [3] Ramachandran met various people involved in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Telugu films, Rajinikanth's brother, Rajinikanth's daughters Soundarya and Aishwarya, and his friends and acquaintances. He also searched Wikipedia and found that a fact about the actor's early life was wrong. His mother had died when he was nine years old and not five as the online encyclopedia claimed. [3] Ramachandran watched each of his films twice and was spending so much time on his research work that his wife said that she had "lost [him] to Rajinikanth" for those two years. [3] Ramachandran met Rajinikanth while the book's subject was filming for Kochadaiiyaan in London. Prepared after two years of work researching, the book was released on 12 December 2012. [3] A second edition was released in paperback form in January 2014. [4] Ramachandran has stated that he would aim to make a third edition of the book if Penguin India agrees. [5]
The book includes details about Rajinikanth's early life, struggle, films, personal life, and stardom. At the beginning of his career, Rajinikanth mostly played supporting and negative roles. Half of the fees he charges for every film are spent on charity. Several anecdotes are included. [6] Plot details and analysis of several of his films are also included. Rajinikanth acted in the 1977 Telugu film Chilakamma Cheppindi alongside Sripriya. He wished to act with the Kannada actor Rajkumar but could not do so. His 50th film was Tiger. He had said that he would write an autobiography only if he became courageous enough like Mahatma Gandhi whose biography The Story of My Experiments with Truth revealed many unknown facts about him. [3]
Rajinikanth worked as an office boy, a coolie, a carpenter, in Mysore Machinery, and at one time earned money by loading rice sacks. He obtained a bus conductor license by appearing for an exam. He later became a friend of the bus driver. When he was working as a conductor in Bangalore he became very popular among passengers due to his style of issuing tickets and returning the change. They wanted to travel only by the bus which had Rajinikanth. It was during this time he acted in stage plays, watched a lot of films, and imitated Sivaji Ganesan, Rajkumar, and M. G. Ramachandran. He said that Ganesan was the reason he has been in cinema. He joined the Madras Film Institute to learn acting skills. Director K. Balachander named him after A V M Rajan's character in the film Major Chandrakanth (1966). [7]
Sadanand Menon, writing for India Today , criticised the book. He compared Tamil film actors' biographers to the ones "who light a candle to look at the sun". He said that the author was "totally mixed up about whether he [was] writing a 'biography' or a 'filmography'." [2] Anurag Kashyap, Suresh Krissna, Rajiv Menon, Sreenivasan and Rajinikanth himself praised the book. [6] Writing for Daily News and Analysis , Kaushani Banerjee praised the author and said that he had "[entered] into the soul of the persona of the star". Banerjee credited Ramachandran for "[doing] complete justice in explaining the Rajinikanth phenomenon." [6] Joginder Tuteja of Bollywood Hungama called it "just an above average read" and praised Gayathri Sreekanth's book The Name Is Rajinikanth by calling it a paisa vasool (worth its money). [8]
Shivaji Rao Gaikwad, known professionally as Rajinikanth, is an Indian actor who works mainly in Tamil cinema. In a career spanning over five decades, he has done 169 films that includes films in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, Bengali, and Malayalam. He is widely regarded to be one of the most successful and popular actors in the history of Indian cinema. Known for his uniquely styled lines and idiosyncrasies in films, he has a huge fan base internationally and has a cult following. The Government of India honoured him with Padma Bhushan in 2000, Padma Vibhushan in 2016, India's third and second highest civilian honours, and highest award in the field of cinema Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2019 for his contributions to Indian cinema.
Kailasam Balachandar was an Indian filmmaker and playwright who worked mainly in the Tamil cinema. He was well known for his distinct film-making style, and the Indian film industry knew him as a master of unconventional themes and hard-hitting contemporary subject matter. Balachander's films are well known for their portrayal of women as bold personalities and central characters. Popularly referred to as Iyakkunar Sigaram, his films are usually centred on unusual or complicated interpersonal relationships and social themes. He started his film career in 1964 as a screenwriter and graduated to a director with Neerkumizhi (1965).
Velaikkaran is a 1987 Indian Tamil-language masala film directed by S. P. Muthuraman, starring Rajinikanth, Sarath Babu, Amala and Pallavi. It is a remake of the 1982 Hindi film Namak Halaal. The film was released on 7 March 1987 and became a box office success.
Maaveeran is a 1986 Indian Tamil-language action film directed by Rajasekhar. A remake of the 1985 Hindi film Mard, it stars Rajinikanth, Ambika and Jaishankar. The film revolves around a rude princess, who falls in love with a simpleton after initially being hostile towards him.
Padikkadavan is a 1985 Indian Tamil-language action drama film, starring Sivaji Ganesan, Rajinikanth and Ambika. It is directed by Rajasekhar. The film was produced by Kannada actor Ravichandran along with his father N. Veeraswamy. It is a remake of the Hindi film Khud-Daar (1982).
Nallavanukku Nallavan is a 1984 Indian Tamil-language action drama film, directed by S. P. Muthuraman and produced by AVM Productions. A remake of the 1983 Telugu film Dharmaatmudu, it stars Rajinikanth and Radhika, with Karthik, Thulasi, V. K. Ramasamy, Major Sundarrajan, Y. G. Mahendran and Visu in supporting roles. The film revolves around a worker who is bequeathed his late boss's business, earning the wrath of the boss's son who believes he swindled his father's business.
Avargal is a 1977 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film written and directed by K. Balachander. The film stars Sujatha, Kamal Haasan, Rajinikanth and Ravikumar. A triangular love story, it revolves around a woman who is caught between the man she fell in love with and her former sadistic husband who is supposedly reformed and wants to rejoin her.
Chilakamma Cheppindi is a 1977 Indian Telugu-language drama film, written and directed by Eranki Sharma. The film starred Rajinikanth in his first lead role. The film won the state Nandi Award for Best Feature Film. The film was a remake of the 1969 Malayalam film Adimakal. The film was remade in Tamil as Nizhal Nijamagirathu by K.Balachander. The film was premiered at the 1978 International Film Festival of India.
Sahodarara Savaal is a 1977 Indian Kannada-language film directed by K. S. R. Das. It stars Vishnuvardhan and Rajinikanth. It was one of the few films that Rajinikanth acted in Kannada. The film was remade in Telugu as Annadammula Savaal (1978). It was released on 16 September 1977.
Gayathri is a 1977 Indian Tamil-language crime thriller film directed by R. Pattabhiraman and written by Panchu Arunachalam. It stars Jaishankar, Sridevi and Rajinikanth. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Sujatha. It was released on 7 October 1977.
Vayasu Pilichindi is a 1978 Indian Telugu-language film directed by C. V. Sridhar. It is a remake of his own Tamil film Ilamai Oonjal Aadukirathu (1978). The film stars Kamal Haasan, Rajinikanth, Sripriya and Jayachitra, all reprising their roles from the original Tamil version. It focuses on two friends falling in love with the same woman.
Justice Gopinath is a 1978 Indian Tamil-language film directed by D. Yoganand. The film stars Sivaji Ganesan, K. R. Vijaya, Rajinikanth and Sumithra. It was released on 16 December 1978 and became a box office failure.
Pokkiri Raja is a 1982 Indian Tamil-language action comedy film directed by S. P. Muthuraman and written by Panchu Arunachalam. A remake of the Telugu film Chuttalunnaru Jagratha (1980), it stars Rajinikanth, Sridevi and Radhika. The film revolves around a man who was framed for murder, and a lookalike who aids him in finding the true killers. It was released on 14 January 1982 and became a commercial success, running for over 100 days in theatres.
Enkeyo Ketta Kural is a 1982 Indian Tamil-language drama film, directed by S. P. Muthuraman. The film stars Rajinikanth in the lead role, with Ambika and Radha playing his love interests and Meena as their daughter. The film was later remade in Telugu as Bava Maradallu in 1984, in Hindi as Suhaagan in 1986 and in Kannada as Midida Hrudayagalu in 1993.
Indian actor Rajinikanth has appeared predominantly in Tamil cinema. He began his film career by playing antagonistic and supporting roles before graduating to a lead actor. After starring in numerous commercially successful films throughout the 1980s and 1990s, he has continued to hold a matinée idol status in the popular culture of Tamil Nadu. Writing for Slate, Grady Hendrix called him the "biggest movie star you've probably never heard of." Rajinikanth has also worked in other Indian film industries such as Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Bengali.
Natchathiram (transl. Star) is a 1980 Indian Tamil-language film directed by Dasari Narayana Rao and starring Sripriya. It is a remake of the 1978 Telugu film Sivaranjani. The film also has Hariprasath and Mohan Babu as a cunning husband of Sripriya. Sivaji Ganesan, Kamal Haasan, Rajinikanth, Savithri, K. R. Vijaya, Manjula Vijayakumar, Srividya and Pushpalatha played guest roles. It was released on 12 April 1980.
Aadu Puli Aattam is a 1977 Indian Tamil-language action film directed by S. P. Muthuraman, starring Kamal Haasan, Rajinikanth, Sangeetha and Sripriya. Later in 1978, S. P. Muthuraman remade the film in Telugu as Yetthuku Pai Yetthu. A few scenes were remade in Telugu with Telugu actors like Satyanarayana and Allu Ramalingaiah and the rest of the film was dubbed.
Thengai Srinivasan was an Indian actor who appeared in Tamil-language films and plays from the 1960s to the 1980s. He was given the prefix Thengai (coconut) after his role as a coconut-seller in the play Kal Manam. Although originally a comedian, he also performed in other genres and enacted several lead and antagonistic roles.
Shanti Kranti is a 1991 Indian action film produced and directed by V. Ravichandran under his Eshwari Productions banner. The film starred Ravichandran and Juhi Chawla in lead roles, while Ramesh Aravind, Khushbu and Anant Nag play supporting roles. The film was simultaneously shot in Kannada, Telugu, Hindi and Tamil. Ravichandran was the lead in Kannada, while he portrayed Ramesh Aravind's role in Tamil and Telugu. Nagarjuna played the lead role in Telugu, while Rajinikanth did so in Hindi and Tamil, the latter titled Nattukku Oru Nallavan. The film became a failure in all four languages. It was the most expensive Indian film made until then.
Naman Ramachandran is a critic and journalist. He is the author of Rajinikanth: The Definitive Biography and Lights Camera Masala: Making Movies in Mumbai. He writes for Variety, Sight & Sound, and Cineuropa. Based in London, England, he is also on the steering group of the London Indian Film Festival. He also wrote the independent film Brahman Naman, which premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival.
