When he made his last public appearance in Mumbai 15 years ago, Rajnikanth didn't anticipate that the next one would take so long and generate such hysteria. But in the decade and half gone by, his stardom has only grown manifold.
Perhaps no other Indian actor has a R 150-crore movie riding on him. On Saturday night, everyone present at the music launch of Robot (Enthiran in Tamil, Telugu), waited to hear Rajnikanth speak.And he held the audience's attention with his sense of humour. Talking about his sci-fi extravaganza, the superstar said, "Kamal Haasan was first supposed to do the role, then Shah Rukh Khan was approached. I don't know what happened... 'Daane daane pe likha hai khaanewaale ka naam' (It's my destiny that I'm the hero of the film)."
He added, "I'm thankful to the director, Shankar, for having confidence in me."
Rajnikanth also thanked Aishwarya Rai Bachchan for agreeing to act opposite him, as he recalled an instance when a fan was shocked to learn that she was playing his heroine. "My neighbours had guests visiting from Rajasthan. The patriarch of the visiting family wondered what happened to my hair and I said they're gone.
He asked me whether I'd retired from the movies and I replied that I'm doing a sci-fi film. After I told him that Aishwarya Rai is the heroine, he wanted to know who the hero is. When I answered that I'm playing the hero, his jaw dropped. He wondered what was wrong with Abhishek and Amitabh Bachchan to have let Aishwarya agree to be my heroine," recalled the actor, leaving everyone in the audience, including the Bachchan family in splits.
