Reverie turns real
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Vijay's dream has come true. The actor who has achieved stardom with Duniya, met Rajnikant, the superstar whom he worships
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HIGH POINT Vijay: `It was the most memorable day in my life. I just didn't want the meeting to end.'
Out of the blue I get a call from "Duniya" Vijay. He's calling from Chennai and as usual breathless with excitement. "I wanted you to know first. I just met Rajni Sir." He had mentioned that his ambition in life was to meet the superstar but never dreamt it would happen so soon. "I had heard that Rajni watched the film incognito with a friend at Vinayaka but brushed it aside because industry people are prone to pull your leg. I had gone to meet Shivanna (Shivraj Kumar) when his assistant told me it was true. He gave me the cell number of Rajni's friend, Raghunandan who had accompanied him. I immediately rang him up and begged him for a darshan, at least from a distance. Raghunandan assured me Rajni would call me the next day but I was impatient. I drove down to Chennai overnight with a few friends."
Vijay was summoned to a house in Kodambakkam. Rajni was in a meeting but when he spotted him got up and said: "Hi Vijay".
"My life was made. I wouldn't have minded if the earth had gobbled me up. I refused to sit beside him. I sat at his feet and broke down," says Vijay. "I narrated how I was humiliated when I went to meet him before I became a star. Rajni Sir consoled me and said the same thing happened to him when he had gone to meet Annavaru (Rajkumar)."
Rajni too had run away from Bangalore and had gone to Chennai just to get a glimpse of his idol, Rajkumar. "I sat mesmerised as he described `Duniya', scene by scene praising me profusely in his typical style. He said I resembled a cheetah in my fight scenes. I just didn't want to leave that place, but he was busy. He gave us a picture of Raghavendraswamy. I asked him for advice."
Rajni's pearls of wisdom were never to manipulate or use people. "Chalk your own path and people will come to you," said the humble superstar.
"It was the most memorable day in my life. I just didn't want the meeting to end," says Vijay with a mixture of pure joy and reverence.
Rajni has promised to meet him whenever possible.
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Mahesh, director of "Arasu" is a satisfied man. There was a drop in collections but the film has been declared a hit. Mahesh got married recently and is planning three films, one each with Prajwal, Shivanna and Darshan.
"Sitting idle in a city like Bangalore is dangerous especially after you are married. People tell me I should take my time and score a hattrick of hits but you can't plan a successful film like `Mungaru Male'," says Mahesh.
He was supposed to direct Prajwal's debut film but was busy.
Now is his chance to consolidate the promising youngster's place in the rat race. "I plan to give Shivanna a new image. The film will be an entertainer on the lines of a Rajnikant film. It will have a lot of light scenes too," says the ever-confident Mahesh.
S. SHIVA KUMAR
sshivu@yahoo.com
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