Explain the craze for Rajinikanth in Tamil nadu?
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I am afraid this answer may invite a lot of down votes, but in my opinion,
there is no craze for Rajinikanth in Tamilnadu.
Originally,when Rajinikanth made his entry in Tamil cinema, with the Midas of Kollywood, K.Balachander as his mentor, there was a vacuum for star-actors in the industry. M.G.R was already busy with politics, and Sivaji Ganesan was ageing and therefore on the wane. Kamal Hassan was just rising, while others like Jaishanker, Ravichandran, Muthuraman and Sivakumar,were becoming stale with either age or exposure. So,Rajinikanth had a much faster rise to stardom than many others because of the ready made niche waiting vacant for him to occupy.
Secondly, a whole new generation was just coming of age at the same time Rajinikanth made his entry. This was the proverbial Angry Young Men generation, alienated and restless at the corruption and other malpractices in the society. This was the reason for the dark,lanky Amitabh Bacchan with his unconventional looks and anti-hero portrayals in the North was upstaging earlier dashing and debonair heroes like Dharmendra and Rajesh Khanna, and emerging as the popular Super Star. Rajinikanth with his dark complexion, unkempt hair, and flamboyant style was the Amitabh equivalent for the Tamil/southern movie industry, in so far as he could capture the imagination of the Angry Young Men by positioning himself as the true or natural representative of this generation. It is no coincidence that most of the earlier block busters of Rajinikanth were the remakes of Amitabh Bacchan starrers from Hindi.
So,Rajini had an easy passage to southern Super stardom due to a combination of uniquely favorable circumstances, and managed to retain it by assiduously building an invincible on-screen and humble off screen persona, which had the multitudes of fans eating out of his hands.
But apart from having admirers for his unique brand of acting on screen, and the style quotient, the so called craze for Rajinikanth, particularly during the recent years, was more of a media myth,than a reality. In the decades after 2000, he was seen only in few films, but even here his mere presence was no longer a guarantee for the success of his films. Baba proved to be a black sheep. Chandramukhi was a hit, but so was all the versions of the film in other languages (Manichitrathazhu with Mohanlal, in Malayalam, and Aptha Mithra with late Vishnuvardhan in Kannada) but his Kuchelan for his mentor's home production was a damp squib, though the Malayalam original Katha Parayumpol won both critical acclaim, and box office success.Both Sivaji and Enthiran had the magnificence and the magic touch of Director Shankar, and the backing of some great Production houses and distribution networks. His last two ventures, the motion capture used Kochadaiyan and the latest Lingaa did get neither critical acclaim nor commercial success.
Similarly his much hyped political entry speculations, which once used to evoke terrific anticipation and enthusiasm, have now become subject of memes and trolls on the internet.
So, the point is, while there is wholesome admiration for Rajinikanth the actor,and great respect for the person, I do not believe there is any craze for Rajinikanth in Tamilnadu, and the whole thing is just a media myth.
there is no craze for Rajinikanth in Tamilnadu.
Originally,when Rajinikanth made his entry in Tamil cinema, with the Midas of Kollywood, K.Balachander as his mentor, there was a vacuum for star-actors in the industry. M.G.R was already busy with politics, and Sivaji Ganesan was ageing and therefore on the wane. Kamal Hassan was just rising, while others like Jaishanker, Ravichandran, Muthuraman and Sivakumar,were becoming stale with either age or exposure. So,Rajinikanth had a much faster rise to stardom than many others because of the ready made niche waiting vacant for him to occupy.
Secondly, a whole new generation was just coming of age at the same time Rajinikanth made his entry. This was the proverbial Angry Young Men generation, alienated and restless at the corruption and other malpractices in the society. This was the reason for the dark,lanky Amitabh Bacchan with his unconventional looks and anti-hero portrayals in the North was upstaging earlier dashing and debonair heroes like Dharmendra and Rajesh Khanna, and emerging as the popular Super Star. Rajinikanth with his dark complexion, unkempt hair, and flamboyant style was the Amitabh equivalent for the Tamil/southern movie industry, in so far as he could capture the imagination of the Angry Young Men by positioning himself as the true or natural representative of this generation. It is no coincidence that most of the earlier block busters of Rajinikanth were the remakes of Amitabh Bacchan starrers from Hindi.
So,Rajini had an easy passage to southern Super stardom due to a combination of uniquely favorable circumstances, and managed to retain it by assiduously building an invincible on-screen and humble off screen persona, which had the multitudes of fans eating out of his hands.
But apart from having admirers for his unique brand of acting on screen, and the style quotient, the so called craze for Rajinikanth, particularly during the recent years, was more of a media myth,than a reality. In the decades after 2000, he was seen only in few films, but even here his mere presence was no longer a guarantee for the success of his films. Baba proved to be a black sheep. Chandramukhi was a hit, but so was all the versions of the film in other languages (Manichitrathazhu with Mohanlal, in Malayalam, and Aptha Mithra with late Vishnuvardhan in Kannada) but his Kuchelan for his mentor's home production was a damp squib, though the Malayalam original Katha Parayumpol won both critical acclaim, and box office success.Both Sivaji and Enthiran had the magnificence and the magic touch of Director Shankar, and the backing of some great Production houses and distribution networks. His last two ventures, the motion capture used Kochadaiyan and the latest Lingaa did get neither critical acclaim nor commercial success.
Similarly his much hyped political entry speculations, which once used to evoke terrific anticipation and enthusiasm, have now become subject of memes and trolls on the internet.
So, the point is, while there is wholesome admiration for Rajinikanth the actor,and great respect for the person, I do not believe there is any craze for Rajinikanth in Tamilnadu, and the whole thing is just a media myth.
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