Saturday, 03 April 2021 | Pioneer
The award to actor-legend Rajinikanth in the election season is open to myriad interpretations
At the outset, let it be put on record that nobody has any misgivings about super star and style icon Rajinikanth’s claim on India’s highest award in cinema, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, winning which is undoubtedly the single biggest honour for anybody related to the cinematic field. If it needs be said, the accolade is richly deserved by the larger-than-life hero who started his journey to dominating the silver screen from very humble origins, when he was a coolie and, later, a bus conductor. Born Shivaji Rao Gaikwad on December 12, 1950, to a Marathi family in Bengaluru, he put in hard work learning the Tamil language before entering the Tamil film industry. His first film was Apoorva Raagangal (1975, directed by K Balachander) alongside Kamal Haasan. Having acted in over 160 films, he has a massive, hysteric, pan-India appeal since he has worked in almost all South Indian languages, besides Hindi and Bangla.
These details are important to underline and understand that behind all his charisma, mannerisms and the frenzied global fan following lies a simple, down-to-earth and hardworking man, who has just got his just deserts. By his own admission, he was more aware of his shortcomings than strengths and decided to work within them. So, of course, one can’t even think of begrudging him any of the awards and honours he has received. But that begets another question on the other side of the fence. Has every deserving personality related to filmdom has been justly awarded by the Government of the day, and in good time? The answer, one would think, is an emphatic “no”. Several luminaries have missed out on the pinnacle of the cinematic world’s achievement — SD Burman, his son and protégé RD, Vijay Anand, Rajesh Khanna and Kishore Kumar, to name just a few, and only from Bollywood. It would be easier to understand that his idiosyncrasies and “anti-establishment” behaviour worked against Kishore Kumar and roughly the same can be said about the debonair Dev Anand, who was awarded as late as in 2002 despite being a visionary filmmaker and actor. And, surprise, surprise, Rajinikanth’s first co-actor and by then already an established actor, Kamal Haasan, hasn’t got it to date! Maybe the Tamil Nadu election or Rajini’s exit from politics before entry is a factor, isn’t it possible?
