The Hindu : Front Page : He drove Rajnikant to stardom

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Saturday, Jun 16, 2007
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He drove Rajnikant to stardom

K.V. Subramanya

STRONG BONDAGE: Raja Bahadur. — Photo: Sampath Kumar G.P.

Raja Bahadur, retired bus driver, went to the movies on Friday. Nothing extraordinary about it except that the film starred his best friend, Shivaji Rao Gaekwad. Certainly it was first-day-first-show for him as always. He joined the lakhs across the nation to watch Sivaji — The Boss, superstar Rajnikant's much-hyped Tamil movie.

This enduring friendship began in the early 1970s when Bahadur drove the then Bangalore Transport Service's route Number 10A that plied between Majestic and Srinagar.

It was cemented when the two would unwind watching films and plays in their off-duty hours. Young Shivaji Rao would also act in some plays staged at the Gubbi Veeranna Ranga Mandira in Gandhinagar.

It speaks volumes of Bahadur's talent-spotting capabilities when he began to persuade his friend to be a little more ambitious.

"The response he got from the audience, particularly when he played Duryodhana and Yechhama Nayaka, the Kannada warrior, was impressive. It was then I thought he should start acting in movies. But Shivaji was not keen," Bahadur told The Hindu .

Goading him on

One does not drive a bus on Bangalore's roads without some degree of persistence and patience. Bahadur kept at it and turned up the volume when the Adyar Film Institute was established in Chennai. In fact, if it were not for the unstinting encouragement and support provided by Bahadur, Shivaji Rao would have been a retired conductor living in his modest home in Hanumanathanagar in south Bangalore instead of becoming Rajnikant, the cult figure.

"He was hesitant to give up his job and join the institute as he was worried about money. Who will leave a government job? he asked me. But I assured him that I would take care of all his financial needs and made him join the institute," says Bahadur. Bahadur, supporting himself on a bus driver's pay, kept his word. For two years from 1974, he gave the most part of his salary to Shivaji and ensured that he completed his course. The young actor was hired by director K. Balachander and the rest is hysteria.

"My dream has come true. He has become a superstar. I am the happiest person in the world today as Sivaji is being released. Maybe I am happier than Rajnikant's wife," laughs Bahadur.

Ask him about his relationship with the superstar today and he says: "He has not changed a naya paisa. Even today we address each other in the singular. Whenever he comes to Bangalore, he disguises himself and we watch movies at Uma, Rex, Vinayaka and Anjan cinemas and visit restaurants and eateries."

Some two decades ago, Rajnikant had invited the who's who of the celluloid and political worlds for the inauguration of a choultry in Madras. At the function the star announced that someone very dear to him would do the honours. Everyone looked expectantly at some political heavyweight or a glittering star. But Rajnikant, true to his style, chose to invite the one friend to whom he owes his career and his grip on reality.

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