A Tribute to Rajinikanth - Rajini necklaces

In India, movies might not so much of a religion as Cricket is but filmstars are still gods. Just as there is a superstar among stars, there is also a God among gods. His name is Rajinikanth. பேற கேட்டாலே சும்மா அதிருதுல ! (Doesn’t everything quake at the mere mention of the name?)

Rajinikanth

Shivaji Rao Gaekwad aka Rajinkanth aka Superstar aka Thalaivar started his acting career in 1975 playing character roles before moving on to becoming “the anti hero”. Whether it was the village rowdy in 16 Vayadhinile or the sly wolf in sheep’s clothing in Moondru Mudichu or sadistic husband in Avargal his brand of villainy was full of swagger and style. For being someone who everybody loved to hate, he turned it around to become the much loved action hero. Many of his 80’s and 90’s movies were remakes. However, they looked and felt original because of his approach and style.

Whether it was his act of throwing a cigarette in the air and catching it with his mouth or the way he flipped his air or the way he wore his sunglasses he took ordinary gestures into extraordinary levels. His movies like Aaril irundhu Aruvadhu varai (From 6 to 60) and Raghavendra (his 100th film on the saint Raghavendra) stand testimony to his acting prowess.

rajini pendant — Double sided customised Rajini pendant

It is no small feat for a Maharastian who lived in Bangalore to become a Tamil superstar. Not only did he become the second highest paid Asian actor after Jackie Chan, he is also an Asian actor with one of the biggest fan following around the world. The Euphoria surrounding Rajinkanth cannot be read or explained, it needs to be felt. No matter who narrates his punch dialogues they receive applause.

Rajini Memories

As a kid growing up in the early nineties, I was a hard core fan. I was introduced to all things Rajini by my cousin when I was about 6 years old and she was 10. She taught me his dialogues and about his style and I was hooked. One of her biggest regrets in life (still) is that she did not share her birthday with him; she was born on December 11th and he on December 12th. As she did not have cable TV at her house, she would come over to mine whenever a Rajinikanth movie played. It would usually be a treat reserved for Sundays particular during summer vacations and we would watch with awe. Everything else that day was structured around the screening.

I once remember the two of us accompanying my dad to pick up my mom at the railway station. The entire time we bugged my dad asking him what the time was and whether we would get back in time for the telecast of a Rajini movie – Panakkaran. We reached home just as the movie started and only then did we stop whining. I think that was the last time, my dad took me out to pick up my mom. When his movie Baasha (a cult classic) released, I narrated the entire film, scene by scene to my friend who hadn’t watched it. She was so impressed by my storytelling skills that she made her entire family watch it in the theater the next day. I still have the scrabble set I won, dancing to his Thillana Thillana at a dance competition in 1996.

At the present, I am not as big as a fan I was when I was a kid; I didn’t even watch his Kabali in the theaters. ( I know I going to face so many questions for writing this). However, the release of his movies still call for celebrations at home as my parents are his fans too.

Rajini necklaces

In my post on Patinam jewelry based on personalities, I had hinted that I would be working on Rajinikanth inspired pieces. A Client had wanted me to create Super star themed gifts for her friend and her new born son. The combination of a new resin, sudden onset of monsoons in Chennai and a new technique meant a lot of struggle. After I couple of redos I figured out how to work with it and I made the first necklace on this post for the mom.

When I made the piece, my mom once again questioned if someone would be interested in wearing it. A student of mine too, asked me if people are actually into wearing fan merchandise when the actor’s movie is not releasing at the time. But then people wear Tshirts with his picture all the time, so why not jewelry, I said? It was a big hit once I posted the picture on Instagram and I got two more orders. I played around with the colours, materials and base images according to their specifications and created these two pieces.