‘A great celebrity, who remembers his roots… and his friends’

When Rajinikanth labored in Bengaluru, issuing bus tickets as a conductor with the BTS (now BMTC), his mates and colleagues knew him as Shivaji Rao Gaekwad. Those who have been conscious of his struggles as a youth and proceed to be mates with the ‘Thalaivar’, recall the person Shivaji Rao behind the larger-than-life Rajinikanth.

“My real name is Venugopal. So till date, I am Venu to him and he is my Shivaji,” mentioned actor-producer Ashok. “We were not just classmates, but also roommates in the South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce’s film institute. Shivaji and I were in the Kannada batch and Chiranjeevi was our junior.” They have been mates ever since. “We were notorious on the campus, and books have been written about our escapades,” added Mr. Ashok, who expressed his happiness when he heard that his pal had been honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award. “He should have got it a long time ago.”

Rocky street

The actor-producer is likely one of the few folks who has seen Rajinikanth remodel from a bus conductor to a celebrity. His path to super-stardom was not straightforward and he was usually met with prejudice. Cinematographer B.S. Basavaraj recollects an incident in 1975, when he was nonetheless an up-and-coming actor.

“It was during a shoot of a Kannada film at Prasad Studio, Chennai, when Shivaji visited us. The director wanted to cast him, but the producer was not willing as he found Shivaji’s complexion too dark. And today, he is is the winner of the Dadasaheb Phalke Award,” mentioned Mr. Basavaraj.

Street cricket

Assistant director Huli Chandrashekar is thrilled for his childhood pal. “We were neighbours in Hanumanthanagar where I still live. We are 70 years old now. Our homes were just one street apart,” he mentioned. As younger boys, they have been a part of the road cricket crew.

“We were a group of five to six boys who would take off to the Harohara mountain to play cricket. We do meet often and every time he comes to Bengaluru, he makes it a point to meet all of us,” mentioned Mr. Chandrashekar

Watching films

“As a youngster, Shivaji was energetic and over enthusiastic. We would sit in movie tents and watch screenings of films of Dr. Rajkumar, Sivaji Ganesan, and MGR and then head to a local bar to discuss cinema. Some days we would be so broke that we would sit outside the tent and listen to the dialogues,” he recalled.

In a struggle

According to Mr. Chandrashekar, Shivaji was a person to have in a struggle. “One night we were at our regular Naidu bar. Some man provoked Shivaji and he took on a group of tough men on his own. I was impressed by his strength and agility.”

His pal Vijay Kumar recalled an incident exterior Vijay Vani studios in Chennai. “We saw a huge cut-out of MGR and Shivaji asked us, if we too would have cut-outs like that. And we all laughed. Today, he is a great celebrity, but one who remembers his roots. And treats his friends with the same love that he had when he was young.”