As of now, Rajinikanth is seen as being close to the BJP. On the other hand, his new son-in-law belongs to the DMK family. In such a conflicting situation, Rajini would want to be away from all the controversy.
Chennai:Even as there is a sense of impatience among many over the delay in the possible announcement of a political party by Rajinikanth, the actor, it seems, is in no hurry to address the criticism.
If anything, it looks like he will keep them all guessing for some more time.
The news from the movie industry is that Rajinikanth, whose Petta announced his second coming of sorts (after movies like Kabali, Kaala, 2.0 that did not exactly satisfy his hardcore fans), has reportedly set aside close to three months for the shoot of his next movie directed by AR Murugadoss.
Industry sources say Rajini is committed to the yet-to-be-titled movie of Murugadoss, which is expected to go on floors by March. The big ticket production house Lyca that bankrolled Rajini's 2.0 is likely to produce this movie too. Rajinikanth has had three releases over the last 365 days --- a rarity in his career in the last 20 years --- and the three movies in total have collected over Rs 1000 crore. "He is in a good place in terms of his film career. Hence, he wants to focus on it now," says an industry veteran.
During the month of February though, most of Rajini's time is expected to be stolen by his second daughter Soundarya's marriage with Vishagan Vanangamudi.
The wedding is scheduled for February 11. The bridegroom is an actor in his own right --- he has acted in a movie named Vanjagar Ulagam. Besides being a film personality, his family also owns a Rs 500 crore pharma company in Chennai. Soundarya has a son (Ved Krishna) from her previous marriage with real estate and construction businessman Ashwin Ramkumar. Vishagan too is a divorcee.
Once the wedding celebrations are done, Rajini is expected to get down to shoot from March. Though the details of the movie are not officially announced yet, it is expected to be a political drama on the patented lines of Murugadoss, who has to his credit movies like Ramana, Thuppakki, Mersal and more. Santosh Sivan is likely to be the cameraperson for this movie. The ace cinematographer last worked with Rajini in Thalapathy.
The film's shoot is expected to take place outside of Tamil Nadu and Rajini has earmarked 90 days for it, which of course means that the Thalaivar would be away from the state during the days of election campaign.
Rajini had previously indicated that his political focus will be on state elections only, and not the Lok Sabha.
Still, choosing to be elsewhere during the run up to the general elections is part of Rajini's plans to avoid unnecessary controversies, say sources.
As of now, he is seen as being close to the BJP (though he has spoken against the Lotus party in a couple of occassions). On the other hand, his new son-in-law hails from a die-hard DMK family. Vishagan's late uncle was a minister in the DMK government. In such a conflicting situation, Rajini wouldn't want to give room for any event that would trigger outrage, and hence may want to be away from all the buzz.
However, there is already a controversy of sorts with Rajinikanth choosing to wish MK Alagiri, the son of M Karunanidhi. Alagiri has fallen out with Stalin and the DMK. But Rajini shares a good equation with Alagiri and he called the Madurai-based politico to wish him on his birthday yesterday. Rajini also told Alagiri that the latter would have his time and emerge stronger in the future.
This has understandably set tongues wagging in Tamil Nadu.
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