Happened to watch a snippet from a function attended by Rajini and Kamal, where Arattai Arangam fame, Manikandan, was invited to give a speech.

I respect Rajinikanth for his simplicity and agree with the fact that the speaker pointed out that he is one of the very few artists in movie industry who attend functions in limited or no make-up. I liked the way he delivered his speech, giving examples of some of the gestures he does.

At one point he started comparing Rajinikanth to Gandhiji. He mentioned that as the public support started growing, both these individuals confined themselves into the ‘Aanmeegam’ (I found this meaning closely reflecting Aanmeegam in English: a walk in the “Aanmeegam” path leads us to the self – the truth).  I felt the comparison was starting to get a little bit too much as it felt like comparing apples to oranges.

I understand and agree that Rajinikanth has proven to be a simple human being with his support for noble causes, but do we really feel he has sacrificed enough to be compared with Gandhiji? I have heard many times that Rajinikanth himself is so humble that he does not like to be praised.

Even when he was unwell and went to Singapore for treatment, his speech was incredibly one of the best I have ever heard. He said something like this:

I act for money and get paid for it. If people show so much of love and affection towards me, I am not sure if I deserve it and how I am going to pay back for all of this.

That is the greatness of Rajinikanth. At the same time, there is a lot more to prove in converting this greatness into tangible action that will benefit the society. I am quite sure he will agree with this.

I am a die hard fan of Rajinikanth and I might be one of the initial registered members of the political party that he starts (if he decides to), but I feel it is too early to be praising him more than what he believes.

I also know that I am too small to even comment about this and even know that there will be 10 million Rajinikanth fans who will raise up in arms against such remarks about him, but at the same time please do not forget the 100 million people who will surely not open their mouth, but will strongly support the fact that Gandhiji got his name by his sacrifices and will object to comparing Rajinikanth to Gandhiji.

Comparing Rajinikanth to Gandhiji??? Come on…we are educated people and there has to be a rationale behind such comparisons. Does he have the qualities to become like Gandhiji, I agree. Has he produced results like Gandhiji? No way (as of 6-Nov-2011).

By the way, as the speaker kept going on and on about Rajini’s greatness, it was interesting to see Kamal sit with an expressionless face. Have to learn that art from Kamal 🙂