It was director Mahendran who introduced the ‘Rajini style’ with his film Mullum Malarum and veteran Kalaignanam who made me a hero at a time I was doing villainy acts, with his production venture Bhairavi in 1978,” Rajinikanth revealed on the first day of the six-day-long photo sessions scheduled with his fans in the city.
“I didn’t come to the industry to become a hero. I didn’t have many friends then. I was always travelling in bus, train or car and was busy working in other language films in villain roles. That was the time Kalaignanam sir came to me and said he wanted to do a movie. I thought it was a villain role and informed him that my schedule was tight. But he said he wanted to produce a film with me as the hero. I was surprised — I didn’t know much about him, and I turned down the offer.”
Stills from Mullum Malarum and Bhairavi.
With a pause he added, “But he came to me again. I was getting around Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000 as my salary then. In order to avoid him, I demanded Rs 50,000 as my remuneration. I thought he won’t come back. Much to my surprise he was back in two days and paid me an advance of Rs 30,000 and agreed to my demand. Moreover, he said that actor Sreekanth would be the villain and Sripriya, the heroine. I was stunned and just agreed to do the film.”
If Balachandar sir had introduced me in films, it was Kalaignanam who gave me a ‘hero status’ with Bhairavi. And after I became a successful hero, he has not asked me for a call sheet. I made a mistake of actually not giving him one,” Rajinikanth admitted during the interaction.
On Mahendran with whom he shares a warm bond, the Kabali actor said, “We developed a friendship during Aadu Puli Aatam, where he was the writer. It was he who brought out the ‘Rajini style’ in me. Later, when he cast me for his debut direction Mullum Malarum, I saw a totally different Mahendran on the sets. He was very strict and was a tough taskmaster. I had my own way of acting. But he changed me and gave a different dimension. I won’t forget the memorable dialogue ‘Ketta Paiyyan Sir Ivan’ from MM (laughs).”
He also disclosed that late CM Jayalalithaa sent him a bouquet and a note saying that he has given an excellent performance after watching Mullum Malarum.
