12/29/13 At the Feet of the Lord and Master - The New Indian Express

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By Shevlin Sebastian | ENS Published: 20th December 2013 10:18 AM

Last Updated: 20th December 2013 10:20 AM

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Film-maker Rinku Kalsy went to Sholinghur, 110 km from Chennai, along

with a seven-member crew to interview N Ravi, the president of the

Rajinikanth Fan Club. While there, she stayed at a guesthouse opposite

Ravi’s house. “Since I was not sure whether an ATM would be available,

I took a lot of currency notes,” says Rinku.

On the morning after she arrived, she paid off, in advance, the hotel

charges for four days to the receptionist. This, however, had an

unforeseen effect. When Ravi and the owner of the guesthouse came

to know about this, they sacked the receptionist. “You have come all

the way from Holland to our small town to hear our stories about

Thalaivar (Our Leader),” said Ravi. “How dare this man take money from

you?” Ultimately, a compromise was reached. Rinku took back the

money, and the receptionist was re-instated.

Rinku got the idea to interview Ravi when she read about him in a

newspaper in Chennai. Apparently, the 500 members of the Sholinghur

fan club, including Ravi, climbed 1,200 steps on their knees to the

town’s famous Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Temple. Their aim: to pray for

the success of Rajnikanth’s film, Enthiran, which was released on

October 1, 2010.

“I was expecting someone flamboyant,” says Rinku. “But I was taken

aback to see that he was a simple person.” Ravi is a local politician who

runs a successful sweetmeat shop.

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12/29/13 At the Feet of the Lord and Master - The New Indian Express

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Thereafter, Rinku met numerous fans and got an idea of their psyche.

“Rajinikanth is their role model,” she says. “They constantly talk about

his humbleness. They respect the charity work he does. When they talk

about his films, it is always about his style and punchy dialogues. And

they admire the fact that, away from the camera, Rajinikanth is always

himself. In other words, he has the guts to come out in public with his

bald head and white beard.”

Rinku did shoot some astonishing scenes, including those of fans who

were queuing outside a theatre in Chennai. All of them touched the

feet of a life-size poster of Rajinikanth placed outside the hall.

Apparently, there are 60,000 clubs, worldwide, with an average

membership of a few hundred in each unit. Thanks to this large number,

when a Rajinikanth film releases on a Friday, especially in Tamil Nadu,

ordinary people can hope to see it only on Monday. “All the initial

shows are booked by his fans,” says Rinku, who went from Mumbai to

study at a film school in Amsterdam in 2004, and has remained there

ever since.

Incidentally, the idea for the 90-minute documentary came from Rinku’s

childhood friend, Joyojeet Pal, who has since become the film’s

producer. In 2009, Joyojeet was working in Tamil Nadu on a research

project on computer use in schools. “I discovered that when I asked

children about computers, they kept talking about the laptop they saw

in the film Shivaji,” says Joyojeet. “And because Rajinikanth played a

computer engineer, all of them wanted to be one. It made me aware of

the enormous influence of the superstar throughout the state.”

At present, the film is at the post-production stage. “Once it is ready I

am planning to show it in film festivals all over the world,” says Rinku.

“Fans in Chennai are also eagerly waiting to see it.”

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