Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan is all set to make his long-awaited debut in the Tamil films. There were a few occasions when it nearly happened, most notably with SJ Suryah’s ‘Uyarndha Manidhan’, but the debut was delayed even though he acted in Telugu movies ‘Kalki 2898 AD’ and ‘Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy’. The delay was probably to ensure that one of the biggest icons of Indian cinema had to make his debut in Tamil with a film starring one of the biggest icons of Indian cinema – Rajinikanth.Following the three Hindi films Andha Kanoon, Giraftaar, and Hum, Rajinikanth and Amitabh Bachchan star in their fourth film, ‘Vettaiyan’, directed by TJ Gnanavel.
Recently at the Vettaiyan Audio Launch, Rajinikanth remembered Amitabh Bachchan’s influence in his life. He shared, “Andha Kanoon was a remake of our very own Sattam Oru Iruttarai. Initially, Mithun Chakraborty was cast in the film, but Amit ji said, ‘Rajini ko bulaao yaar (Call Rajinikanth).’” The superstar continued by saying that their other two projects together, Giraftaar and Hum, were big hits. “Let me tell you about Amitabh Bachchan… Today’s 2k kids might not know of him,” said Rajinikanth, who further explained why he considers Amitabh as his role model.
Rajinikanth recalled, “At the peak of his career, when he was 57-58, Amitji got bored. He bought an apartment in Switzerland and started living there alone. He did everything alone. Seeing that, I also tried doing it in Bengaluru. But Amitji returned after a year or two and he floated ABCL. He wanted to do good films in various languages. But that endeavour backfired. That’s the sad reality of cinema. If you aren’t careful, you will be finished.”
Rajinikanth shared that he learned a great deal from Big B and views him as a role model. When he lost his money and became burdened with debt, many celebrated his downfall. Those who reach dizzying heights often find that there are many waiting for their fall; in some cases, they do not even wait for a significant failure to occur but rather celebrate even the slightest misstep. Nevertheless, after experiencing failure at the age of 65, he rose again. He accepted the challenge and stood up for himself. Even now, at 82, he works ten hours a day and begins each day at the gym.
“If there are people who are waiting to stamp on you when you are down, you have to get up, stand tall, and stamp on the very people who put you down, and climb back to the top. That is Amit ji. And to have him be part of Vettaiyan is a very happy moment,” the actor stated.
Rajinikanth was all praises for Amitabh Bachchan’s professionalism and shared that he is very punctual and disciplined. “When he comes to the sets, he will get his scene, sit in a corner, come and ask doubts about details and logic, and then go back to that corner. There will be silence during this time, and he was also clear about how he said his dialogues, and would ask filmmakers if he could change dialogues, etc… It is only then, he would say good morning to everyone,” said the star.
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