The days of Rajnikanth as super star and style mannan (king of styles) seem to have come to an end and it is time for South Indian movies highest paid actor to have an introspection, according to noted film critics as well as the fans of the star. The consecutive failure of two of his movies in 2014 has sent a word of caution to prospective producers about casting Rajnikanth in multi-crore projects.
The prelude to the truth that Rajnikanth’s hold over the box-office was over came out with Kochadaiyaan (made at a cost of $20 million), directed by his daughter Soundarya Ashwin getting bombed in the box- office in 2014. The second film starring Rajnikanth to hit the theatres in 2014, lingaa (cost $16 million) too fared poorly.
The super star suffered a major setback with many distributors coming out in the open questioning the capability of Rajnikanth to keep collection boxes ticking. A major controversy is on in Tamil Nadu with film distributors demanding that Rajnikant compensate for their losses which run into crores following the failure of these two movies.
What adds to the worries of Rajnikanth is the announcement by office bearers of his fans clubs in Tamil Nadu that it was they who sustained his superstardom all these decades. The modus operandi of the fan clubs is like this, They organise special shows of Rajnikant starrer and resort to block booking of all seats with money taken on loan from private lenders. The Mettupalayam Rajnikanth Welfare Association suffered a loss of Rs 2.04 lakhs on the opening day of lingaa as there were no takers for more than half the seats. The Pattukotta Town Rajnikant Fans Association lost Rs 4.1 lakhs on day one of the release of lingaa. The office bearers of these fan clubs, who are all from the low income groups want the super star to compensate for their losses.
The failure of Kochadaiyaan and lingaa are not isolated events. The last decade saw four films starring Rajnikant biting the dust and leaving the theatre circuit without any trace, according to PK Sreenivasan, leading writer and film critic who has followed Rajnikant’s career since 1978. “His mannerisms and styles have become stale. The fans have no alternatives other than watching the same style and same characters for more than three decades and they cannot be blamed if they are fed up,” Sreenivasan told The Pioneer. He also pointed out that gone are the days when fans were thrilled at the cigarette tricks and stylish fightings.