For Variety Weekly (the entertainment business publication), London-based South Asia correspondent Naman Ramachandran, today (12-12-12) is a special day. Not only is it his hero Rajnikanth's birthday, it is also the day when his biography of the superstar is being released. A labour of love of two years, the biography is being pitched as Rajni sir's definitive one.
Says Naman: “I have been a Rajnikanth fan ever since I was a kid. I watched his movies in my growing up days but in the past few months of my extensive research on him, I almost watched all his movies twice. I went to different states to collect his movies. And luckily for me I did not need to watch his movies with subtitles as I can speak Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada."
Naman says he has written the biography without Rajni Sir being interviewed by him. “Rajni Sir did not want to be interviewed for it. I met him in London a few months ago while he was shooting for his upcoming film Kochadiyaan which is to release in April 2013. He came across as a very humble person and he gave a letter in which he gave me the permission to write about him. Our conversation was brief and he gave me the go-ahead to speak to people close to him, adding that this will not be his authorised biography. I met his brother, the bus driver he worked with while he was a bus conductor, few of the directors, producers who’ve worked with him and also his co-stars. This is why we are calling this book a ‘definitive biography’.”
Naman points out that the book is about Rajnikanth's education, spiritual and film journeys. “It’s not about his personal day to day habits like brushing or having tea. The book also talks about his struggling days and the nerve wracking moments and finally the time when he met his beautiful wife and his marriage.”
He reveals that he is going to stay back in Chennai with his beautiful wife European TV executive Laxmi Hariharan until Rajni sir receives a copy of the book which he has had sent to him.
Does he have any jokes to add to the bevy of Rajni jokes? He comes back pat with one we have not heard before: “You know when Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone he had two missed calls. Guess who they were from? Our Rajni Sir! ” :)
Well said Naman! We can only wish that the 20,000 copy print run of the book sells out within the next few weeks! Tellychakkar.com wishes you the best!