shatteredglass

i don want you thinking I've run out of topics to talk about....so this post.

n what am i going to tell u about today?




its the latest rage that has swept south India in the last few months.
its the current topic on conversation at 7.30 AM breakfast tables.
its what IT professionals discuss in their lunch hour.
its what 12B bus conductor talks about with the regulars on the bus.
its what ten-year-olds are now gabbling about.
its what middle-class women are at this moment gossiping about in the evenings.

its is........a phenomenon called SIVAJI.



to me...........n maybe to you............this is just a movie.
a lavish,big movie.
but nothing more.


firstly........this is not a review or a a spoiler of sorts.....so read on even if you haven seen the film.


one look at the crowds thronging the sathyams n abiramis n alberts of chennai alike..........you wonder if this is after all just a movie.

a glimpse of the [in]famous milk n beer bottles emptied out on cut outs of the super-star as if to prove his demi-god status......you doubt if YOU are the weird one out.

reports of friends willing to pay thousands for a ticket to the first day's first show confirms your doubt!!



you enter the theatre to shouts of 'thailava' n hoots n whistles n cat-calls from men in drunken stupors.
you stare at the college students dancing to the opening number n blowing kisses to the screen and grimace n smile with amusement at the same time.

you see the little girl living down your street stare at the screen.....wide-eyed n open-mouthed.
you see the grumpy old man working at your dad's office wave at you cheerfully.

you notice the meagre clerk fish out his hard-earned savings n proudly buy tickets for his family of six.

n you suddenly realise.............that for many..........this is a dream come true.


For the hard-core fan who waits every three years to perform his customary milk n beer 'abishekams';for that grumpy man i told you about who believes that Tamil cinema is a waste of time save the super star ;for that little girl who swoons at the hero's hairstyle;for that clerk who visits the theatre twice a year;for the middle class woman shyly holding her husband's hand n smiling without knowing.

then.........you look back at the screen.


you see the expensive sets n the lavish costumes,you note the visual extravagance,you stare at the drop-dead gorgeous heroine young enough to be the hero's daughter,you notice Rahman's enthralling music,you realise the strong feel-good factor that accompanies all super-star movies..................n you, suddenly struck by a bolt of you-don't-know-what believe that the movie deserves an Oscar.

this is not a movie after all.
thanks to a certain hero.
a super star in every sense of the word
.a certain Sivaji Rao Gaekwad...........otherwise known as Rajnikanth!


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