Lessons Rajini learnt from films that didn’t do well in his career!
Superstar Rajinikanth, who has until now maintained a stoic silence on why he chose to do certain films that eventually ended up as flops in his career, on Wednesday not only talked about the reasons for choosing such projects but also the lessons he learnt from their failures at the box office.
Participating in the audio launch of Kaala, which took place at the YMCA grounds in Nandanam on Wednesday, Rajini said, “This does not look like an audio release event. It looks like it is the success meet of the film. In fact, it is Kaala’s success meet. I last took part in the success meet of my film Sivaji. After that, Endhiran (Robot) became a huge success. When we wanted to celebrate the success of that film, I fell ill. I went to Singapore (for treatment) and recovered through your prayers and returned. As a result, we couldn’t celebrate the success of that film.
“When I was undergoing treatment there, some people told me that if I have to enable the healing to take place faster, I would have to control my mind as well. Both body and mind have to be healthy. When your body condition deteriorates, your mind too follows suit. They told me that if you do what you like most, it would be well. I do not know anything other than acting. When I was acting in Rana, I became unwell. I thought for a change, let’s try doing an animation film. My daughter Soundarya is someone who has expertise in Animation. They told me that it would be enough if I acted in that film for seven to eight days. I agreed.
“However, they later said that the project would require more funds. That is because all those who made this suggestion were too intelligent. As the costs were spiralling, I said,’Let’s stop this project here.’ That movie did not do well. I learnt something from that experience. I learnt that one must interact and move with intelligent people and not with people who are super intelligent. The super intelligent will have several ideas and plans. They will have several windows and doors. However, all of them will be shut. When the time comes, they will not know which door or window one must use and flee the place.
“Subsequently, I called my dear friend, director K S Ravikumar, and asked him if we could do a film. He narrated the script of Linga to me. I liked it. Linga’s story was wonderful. However, that movie did not do as well as we had expected it to do. I learnt two things from this project. The first thing I learnt was that you need to be a good person but then, you can’t be a very good person. To be an overwhelmingly good person is dangerous. People mistake you for a coward. The next thing I learnt is that I am 65 years old. I could have acted as a 45 year old person. But then, I acted as a 35 year old in the film. I acted along with a heroine (Sonakshi Sinha) who is younger than my daughter. I decided that I should stop acting in such roles. “
