Rajni had been the talk of the town for the last two weeks. Our friend "Guru Ranganathan" unravelled him for us and we added some finishing touches. "Naan eppa varuven, eppadi varuvennu yarukkum theriyadhu, aana varavendiya neratthil correct-aga varuven." ("When I will arrive, or how I will arrive, nobody will know, but I will arrive when I ought to." ) - is one of Tamil Superstar Rajni's dialogue.
True to this dialogue, its so convincing that his fans, media and film critics are dumbstruck with inspiration about his new film "Shivaji"- not sparing any words in the vocabulary. Film industry is quite 'queer'- some hyped up films will end up with huge losses, where as an unlikely film sans superstars would gross decently well....
Analyst report says that only one out of 671 new product ideas ever makes it to the market and hits it sale and profit target!.
But here is a paradox!!!! as soon as the customer hears that his favorite brand is coming up with a new product he has booked it in advance with out even knowing what the product is!!!
But brand "Rajni" is quite inexplicable- the film was made for Rs.65 crores ( its mentioned in public that Rajni was paid a whooping 17 crores, along with a revenue sharing contract). The film is likely to gross more than 60 crores of rupees. The tickets for the first two weeks were already sold out 5 days before release of the film. Rajni fans have painstakingly stood in queues and paid exhorbitantly ( Rs 500-1000 for single ticket- the first week), for getting a chance to see him on reel. He's quite easily approachable in real as one of the fans remarked " Rajni never acts in real." For something they have not seen, Rajni fans are ready to empty their pockets blindly believing in his skills and style.
After all, How has Rajni done it?
Considered as demi-God of South India, his skills and mannerisms are appreciated, copied. Rajnikanth is popular for his flamboyant dialogue delivery and characteristic mannerisms. Rajnikanth's movies has been mass entertainers. Synonymous to style,when you observe any kid in Tamilnadu ,they use the phrase “Rajni stylu” for any bravo act they do!His USP is his one liners in the films, no other actor uses it in Tamilnadu. His fans in Tamilnadu are crazy about his one liners.
In the 1992 film, Annamalai, he says,"Naan solrathaiyum seiven, sollathathiyum seiven." - I will do what I say, I will also do what I don't say."
His films are also grounded with "good winning over evil" theme , and fall in line with stories of 'local-Robinhoods'. Apart from Tamil, Rajinikanth has acted in over 160 movies, including Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Hindi and Bengali. Andha Kaanoon, Hum,Chaalbaaz are some of his HIndi sitints. He also had a brief stint in Hollywood with the movie Bloodstone in 1988.
Rajni- My name is Shivaji...
Born as Shivaji Rao Gaekwad in Karnataka, he also had his humble begininnings. While juggling with different jobs to make a living, he worked as a bus-conductor in state transport corporation in Bangalore. From smaal roles, he has extended his helping hands to people, in his own way. He has widely helped many in film industry, and has plans to open hospital and schools. Although many anticipated that he will enter into politics, he's relatively shy of media and reluctant to be a politician. And more over he is the only big ticket celeb left without being exploited by brands.... he refuses to endorse brands however big they are and maybe because when he sees ,no brand is bigger than him....
He is a good case for the ad guys around as a perfect example of a good brand with consistency and integrated communication !!!
"Naan oru dhadavai sonna nooru dhadavai sonna madhiri." - "If i say it once, I've said it a hundred times." .... he said so and the whole world seems to nod their head....
