From bus conductor to Phalke Awardee, Rajinikanth’s life is the stuff of movies

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From bus conductor to Phalke Awardee, Rajinikanth’s life is the stuff of movies

As the recipient of the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the superstar of Tamil cinema Rajnikanth crosses yet another milestone in a career that spans 45 years and continues to go strong. Rajnikanth was presented the 51st Dadasaheb Phalke Award at the 67th National Film Awards function by Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu in the national capital on Monday.

The Phalke Award is the latest of several honours that the thespian has garnered through his career. Apart from four Tamil Nadu State Film Best Actor Awards, and a Filmfare Best Tamil Actor Award, Rajinikanth is the recipient of Padma Bhushan in 2000, and the Padma Vibhushan in 2016. He is the second Tamil actor after Sivaji Ganesan to receive the prestigious film award.

However, bracketing Rajinikanth as a Tamil movie star would be a grave injustice to the legions of fans and admirers he has acquired across regions and languages – Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, and Hindi – he has acted in all the movie industries. His popularity breaches regional and national boundaries too. There was a time, when Rajinikanth was a big time craze in faraway Japan.

His life itself is reminiscent of some of the rags to riches roles he has successfully portrayed on the big screen. Born in erstwhile Mysore state as Shivaji Rao Gaekwad, in a middle-class Marathi family of Bangalore, young Rajinikanth took up several odd jobs before landing a job as a bus conductor in the Karnataka capital. The acting bug caught him pretty young, and egged on by his bus-driver friend Raj Bahadur, he took off to then Mecca of south Indian cinema – Madras, now Chennai.

Interestingly, the 70-year-old superstar who has held sway over the silver screen for several decades, began his career as the quintessential bad man on screen. Legendary director K. Balachander’s find, Rajinikanth made his debut with a small role in ‘Apoorva Raagangal’ in 1975. Thereafter, a series of negative roles in a succession of movies ensured he became a known face to movie-goers. His inimitable style quotient included mannerisms such as popping a cigarette and lighting it, or rocking on his heels while rattling off long dialogues, with a sneering smile plastered across his face.

In real life too, in the conservative Chennai society of the 70s and 80s, Rajinikanth briefly enjoyed a reputation as a bit of a bohemian. His smoking and alcohol-loving lifestyle used to be the talk of the town. Incidentally he first met his wife Latha, when she came to interview him for a college magazine.

Gradually, Rajinikanth took control of his life and turned a new page altogether. For some time, he made the headlines for his visits to his Himalayan guru’s abode, seeking solutions to many of society’s ills.

But throughout, Rajinikanth never lost sight of his cinematic career goals. Thanks to a couple of lucky breaks, including the hit movie ‘Priya’ where he portrays a detective, Rajinikanth had transitioned to lead roles. Along the way, he worked in Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam movies, in addition to the occasional Hindi movie like ‘Andha Kanoon’ and ‘Hum’ to name a few.

It was movies like ‘Baasha’, ‘Annamalai’, and ‘Sivaji’ that cemented Rajinikanth’s cult status. The poor young man with a heart of gold, who wins over the rich and mighty is a recurring theme in many of his movies, and something that fans relate to everytime he appears on screen.

Rajinikanth is also known for his sense of fair play. Just as he commanded astronomical remunerations for his movies, his conduct was said to be exemplary if his films tanked at the box-office. The Tamil film industry saw a new trend set when he supposedly called his film producers home and reimbursed their losses.

But Rajinikanth has also not stepped back from challenging roles either. Be it ‘Chandramukhi’ which dealt with the paranormal, or ‘Enthiran’ which set the ball rolling for sci-fi in Indian movies, Rajnikanth has done it with elan.

The superstar had also tried his hand at politics but better sense prevailed and ahead of the 2021 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, he disbanded his political party on December 31, 2020. Earlier too, he has been politically active, albeit from the sidelines when Jayalalithaa as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister made it to the headlines over her alleged corruption, Rajinikanth railed against her and contributed to the DMK victory in the polls of 1996. In later years, Rajinikanth cozied upto the BJP but never went beyond verbal support for the party.

With age and health concerns turning out to be hurdles, Rajinikanth has become choosy about his roles. ‘Annaatthe’ is his latest big screen outing currently under production. Meanwhile, the younger generation comprising of daughters Soundarya, Aishwarya, and son-in=law and actor Dhanush are active in the filmmaking business.

Dhanush too figured in the honours list on Monday, bagging the Best Actor award for his role in Tamil feature film ‘Asuran’.

Forty-five years ago, few including the plain-looking, swarthy young Rajinikanth himself, would have imagined that the most prestigious cinematic award of the land would be his. But on Monday, 70-year-old Shivaji Rao Gaekwad a.k.a. Rajinikanth did just that. And he didn’t forget the people who made it possible – his brother Satyanarayana Rao, friend Raj Bahadur, mentor K. Balachander, and his fans.

National Award-winning Mohanlal-starrer headed for OTT release

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National Award-winning Mohanlal-starrer headed for OTT release

Movie theatres opened across Kerala after six months on Monday, with the first film slated to be released on the big screen on Wednesday, but the producer of Malayalam superstar Mohanlal’s award-winning film, “Marakkar: Lion of Arabian Sea”, directed by the acclaimed director Priyadarshan, is mulling a possible OTT release.

Speaking to the media here on Monday, the film’s producer, Antony Perumbavoor, said he was exploring all options, including a possible OTT release. “See, this film has been long delayed and we just cannot afford to wait anymore,” Preumbavoor said. “We have talked with Amazon Prime. If the decision is made to go OTT way, then there will not be any theatrical release.”

At the 67th National Film Awards, which was held in New Delhi on Monday, “Marakkar, the Lion of Arabian Sea” got three awards — Best Feature Film, Best Special Effects and Best Costume.

The film is centred around the life and times of Kunhali Marakkar, the famous naval chieftain of the Zamorin of Calicut, who is credited with organising the first naval defence of the Indian coast. Mohanlal, who’s known for his flexibility and adaptability to any character, plays the title role of Marakkar.

The star cast includes the thespian Madhu and Manju Warrier, besides Bollywood actor Suniel Shetty, and a host of British and Chinese actors.

With many producers unhappy with the new rules restricting the audience to 50 per cent of the seating capacity of each movie theatre, and with the Malayalam cinema audience getting used to OTT releases, there are many others like Perumbavoor who are contemplating OTT releases.

Puri Jagannath’s viral video with kid on Mumbai roads

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Puri Jagannath’s viral video with kid on Mumbai roads

Leading Telugu director Puri Jagannadh was spotted by his fan on a busy road in Mumbai. Puri Jagannadh, along with his team had headed to shoot for a peppy song for his upcoming Vijay Deverakonda and Ananya Pandey-starrer ‘Liger’.

As the director was heading towards his shooting spot with his team player Charmmee Kaur, they bumped into a young boy, who was shocked to see them. The boy approached Puri’s car, as he could not believe his own eyes, he kept saying “Puri sir” in exclamation.

The young boy introduced himself as Pramod. “I am unable to believe this sir. I am a huge fan of yours. As soon as I saw the Telangana number plate on the car, I guessed that it would be people from our state. But, as I came forward, I cannot believe my eyes,” the boy got emotional. He was also seen shaking the hands with Puri Jagannadh multiple times.

Pramod went further and asked Charmme to post the video on Twitter, as he could not snap a selfie because he had no phone with him. Charmee is seen assuring that she will post the video on Twitter. Puri Jagannadh is seen greeting his young fan, as he asks him to watch ‘Liger’.

“This cute kid came across #purijagannadh on mumbai traffic signal .. was mesmerised seeing him, this post is specially for Pramod, because he mentioned he wanted a selfie but unfortunately didn’t have a phone,” tweeted Charmme, who was beside Puri Jagannadh in the car.

‘Liger’ stars Vijay Deverakonda, Ananya Pandey, and US boxing legend Mike Tyson in key roles.

T20 World Cup: Babar Azam at the minute is a different gravy with the bat, says Swann

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T20 World Cup: Babar Azam at the minute is a different gravy with the bat, says Swann

Former England off-spinner Graeme Swann believes that Pakistan skipper Babar Azam is ‘at the minute a different gravy with the bat’. He added that Azam is a seriously good player, so is his opening partner Mohammad Rizwan. Azam (68 not out off 52 balls) and Rizwan (79 not out off 55 balls) had an unbeaten opening partnership of 152, handing India a ten-wicket thrashing at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in Dubai on Sunday. It was the first time ever that Pakistan won against India across all editions of the men’s T20 World Cup.

“Babar Azam at the minute is a different gravy with the bat. For ages in England, we kept saying why Joe Root is not part of the famous big three. I mean, you have Virat Kohli, Kane Williamson, and Steve Smith and then it became the big four. Now Pakistan fans would say hang on a minute… I saw him score a century at Edgbaston. Oh my word, he is a seriously good player. And his partner at the other end, little Rizzy, he can bat as well,” Swann was quoted as saying by cricket.com on Monday.

Swann pointed out that early dismissals of Indian openers Rohit Sharma and Mohammad Shami by left-arm pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi in the power-play turned the match in Pakistan’s favour. “Those two early wickets of Rohit and Rahul,’let’s just face it, those two were unbelievable deliveries. Swinging in at more than 90 mph, pitching on off stump, and hitting the top of the middle. That was almost an unplayable delivery and then Rohit to face that yorker on the first delivery. That won the game for Pakistan.”

Swann, who was a member of the England team winning the 20’0 men’s T20 World Cup, was of the opinion that a comprehensive loss for India at the start of the tournament could help them in the long run. “Sometimes it’s good to get hammered at the start of the tournament because it feels like a real kick at the backside. The IPL being played just now, everyone saying India are the favourites, a bit of lethargy can creep into a team. Maybe India will find their edge because of this defeat.”

Swann signed off by saying that Pakistan’s path in the ongoing tournament could go either way. “Pakistan could easily win this tournament by winning all their games by 10 wickets or lose all their remaining matches, that’s how they go. They are a dangerous, dangerous team.”

Facebook, Instagram grapple with ageing user base

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Facebook, Instagram grapple with ageing user base

Facebook and Instagram are losing young users at an alarming rate as the millennials and Gen Z now opt for more immersive social game platforms like TikTok, Snapchat, Fortnite, Roblox and more, the media reported on Monday.

Teenage users on Facebook in the US are projected to drop 45 per cent over the next two years, driving an overall decline in daily users in the company’s most lucrative ad market, reports The Verge.

“Young adults between the ages of 20 and 30 were expected to decline by 4 per cent during the same timeframe,” the report noted, quoting internal Facebook documents.

Instagram was doing better with young people, with full saturation in the US, France, the UK, Japan, and Australia.

“But there was still cause for concern. Posting by teens had dropped 13 percent from 2020 and “remains the most concerning trend”, according to Facebook researchers.

The “ageing up issue is real. Increasingly, fewer teens are choosing Facebook as they grow older,” the researcher wrote in an internal memo, part of disclosures made to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and provided to Congress by legal counsel for whistleblower Frances Haugen.

Haugen has claimed that Facebook’s business of selling ads based on engagement leads it to keep users on the service at all costs, even when it knows that the content they are engaging with is harmful. She also testified before the US Congress that Instagram can have a negative effect on the mental health of teenagers.

“While it famously started as a networking site for college students, employees have predicted that the aging up of the app’s audience – now nearly 2 billion daily users – has the potential to further alienate young people, cutting off future generations and putting a ceiling on future growth,” the report emphasised.

Joe Osborne, a Facebook spokesperson, said in a statement: “Our products are still widely used by teens, but we face tough competition from the likes of Snapchat and TikTok. All social media companies want teens to use their services. We are no different.”

To address the growing crisis, employees at Facebook and Instagram have been planning products tailored for teens and young adults, according to the internal documents.

However, they recognise that it is going to be an uphill battle on both platforms.

Facebook has been working on Groups+, meant to let young people join groups for specific personalities and “close-knit communities” as a way to “increase cultural relevance.”

The social media giant is also planning to rebrand the company with a new name that focuses on the metaverse.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is expected to announce the new branding at the company’s Connect conference on October 28.

Facebook in September announced that it will invest $50 million to partner with the organisation to responsibly build the Metaverse – a new phase of interconnected virtual experiences using technologies like virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR).

The Metaverse is a set of virtual spaces where one can create and explore with other people who aren’t in the same physical space.

KCR unanimously re-elected TRS President

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KCR unanimously re-elected TRS President

Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao was on Monday unanimously re-elected as the President of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).

Rao was elected unopposed to the post for a ninth consecutive term.

TRS General Secretary M. Sreenivas Reddy, who was the election officer, announced Rao’s re-election at the party plenary attended by 6,000 delegates from across the state.

KCR, as Rao is popularly known, was declared elected unopposed as no other nomination was received for the post.

His election was a mere formality after no other TRS leader filed nomination till Friday, the last day for filing papers.

In all, 18 nominations were filed by several TRS leaders, proposing the name of Chandrasekhar Rao as President. Ministers, party MPs, MLAs and other leaders had filed nominations on behalf of KCR.

The scrutiny of nomination papers was taken up on Saturday.

The plenary later passed a resolution congratulating KCR on his re-election. He thanked the leaders for electing him unanimously for another term.

KCR presided over the plenary. He highlighted the achievements of the party during last 20 years and the schemes taken up by the TRS government during the last seven years.

He had resigned from the Telugu Desam Party in 2001 to float TRS to revive the movement for statehood to Telangana.

The separate State was carved out of Andhra Pradesh in 2014.

Kerala gives free homeopathy tablets to kids ahead of schools’ reopening

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Kerala gives free homeopathy tablets to kids ahead of schools’ reopening

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday inaugurated a state-level programme of distribution of free homeopathic preventive tablets to all school children as a precautionary measure against Covid-19 as all schools will be reopening from November 1.

Vijayan said the homeopathic medicines are proven and effective.

“Homeopathic preventive tablets will be made available through special kiosks and dispensaries. This has been proved to be very effective as well. A special helpline has also been opened for all queries,” he added.

Schools in the state have remained closed from the third week of March 2020.

The decision to distribute homoeopathic preventive tablets was first discussed between Education Minister V. Sivankutty and Health Minister Veena George and it decided to go ahead with it.

It has been decided that in the initial weeks of opening of schools that there will be no uniform and attendance will not be compulsory for school students.

The study curriculum in the first few weeks will be more of returning to schools and would centre around well-being and such related issues, with the regular curriculum being kept in abeyance for a while.

More decisions with regards on the exact nature of classes will be announced by an expert committee which is preparing the roadmap for it and for a while there will be only 25 per cent students attending classes with students coming to school in different shifts.

Karuna Verma on playing an egotistical mother on-screen

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Karuna Verma on playing an egotistical mother on-screen

Actress Karuna Verma is all set to enter the daily soap ‘Bhagya Lakshmi’. She will be seen playing the mother of ‘Mallishka’ (Maera Mishra) in the show.

Talking about her character, Karuna said: “I am very excited about joining ‘Bhagya Lakshmi’ where I will be playing the role of ‘Mallishka’s mother, and she is very egotistical in nature. She has unconditional love for her daughter, just like any other mom and she wants her to be happy in life, even if it means hurting someone else. In fact, my character has her own struggle story.”

Karuna is known for being part of movies like ‘Heropanti’, ‘Veerey di Wedding’. Her character’s name on the show is ‘Kiran’. Karuna added about her on screen role, saying: “She is a single parent, who is very strong-headed. So, I am enjoying playing this character.”

The actress has enjoyed shooting for this show and working with the team. “I’ve created a great bond with my co-stars. I believe I am one of those fortunate ones who is doing what they love to do in life, as acting has always been my passion and I hope everyone loves my character and showers us with love and appreciation,” she concluded.

‘Bhagya Lakshmi’ airs on Zee TV.

MAA president Manchu Vishnu slams YouTube channels for rumours

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MAA president Manchu Vishnu slams YouTube channels for rumours

Movie Artistes Association president Manchu Vishnu has lashed out at some YouTube channels for peddling rumours on Telugu actors, especially female actors.

During a meeting over the recent happenings in the film industry, a few members of MAA had raised this topic of actors being a soft target for YouTube channels.

Vishnu, who is trying to resolve this issue, has addressed it and suggested that necessary actions must be taken to avoid further troubles. “Speculating on personal matters, creating rumours, and defaming the actors is not cool. There is no objection if the facts are told or any kind of healthy content-making is done. But, it has come to our notice that there are several channels who are considering the actors as their soft targets to achieve their page views,” Vishnu said.

Vishnu also gave an ultimatum that serious action would be taken, if the content generators go beyond certain limits. “Such content providers have to face legal issues in the future. This is an action that I would take as part of our agenda on behalf of MAA,” he added.

Actress Samantha Ruth Prabhu had filed legal cases against a couple of YouTube channels for promoting content which she claimed defamed her. She was subject to trolling by many content creators, post her divorce from actor Naga Chaitanya.

Modi launches pan-India health mission from Varanasi

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Modi launches pan-India health mission from Varanasi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday launched the Pradhan Mantri Atmanirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana (PMASBY) from his parliamentary constituency of Varanasi which will be one of the largest pan-India schemes to strengthen healthcare infrastructure.

The Prime Minister said that the scheme, estimated to cost Rs 64,000 crore, would make the health infrastructure self-reliant.

“Aarogya concept is needed in everyone’s life. We should invest the maximum in physical and mental wellness but, sadly this was not done in the post-Independence period. Due attention was not paid and those who were in power, kept the healthcare system deprived and lacking,” he said.

Modi said that the middle-class groups and the poor were worst sufferers in the absence of adequate facilities at the grassroots level.

“This mission will solve these problems. We are focusing on hill states like Uttarakhand and Himanchal Pradesh and also the northeast. We will address the gaps,” he said.

The Prime Minister said that special attention would be laid on early detection and 125 districts will have referral facilities.

Secondly, testing would also be stepped up and 730 districts will get integrated testing laboratories.

He said that research centres will also be upgraded and four new National Institute of Virology units would be set up so that the country can be ready to deal with new viral issues and the pandemic.

He said that as the health infrastructure developed, it would generate new employment opportunities too.

The Prime Minister also announced new development projects worth Rs 5,200 crore for Varanasi.

He said that in the past seven years, Kashi had undergone a change with building of roads, ghats, bridges, parking lots and cleaning of the Ganga and Varuna rivers.

“This could have been done earlier but the previous governments lacked political will,” he said.

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