Has Bollywood failed to recognise Rajnikanth as an Indian Superstar?

This was the hour long debate in NDTV prime time from 8 to 9. You know... when thousands of Indian Airlines passengers were waiting for the flight service to resume from the strike, the news channels felt, how better to keep them entertained. This is the extent of the Rajni mania that's been sweeping the nation. Setting aside the debate of whether it deserved that much media attention with so many more pressing issues at stake, let's try to understand why it was given that much importance. One word. Money. In predominantly Hindi speaking nation, with Bollywood being recognized as India's mainstream cinema, they couldn't digest the fact that the highest paid actor(second highest Asian) in the nation was from the Tamil Cinema. They couldn't see what was so special in this man, except for the fact that he had 35000 registered fan clubs only in Tamil Nadu(68000 all over the world) while Big B had a mere 8 all over the country, his last movie Chandramukhi made 60 crores, while Big B' s Cheeni Kum made 6 crores, he demanded a minimum of 10 crores apart from profit shares, while Big B asked 3-5 crores, and that he acted in one film in two years while Big B acted in 6 films just this year. I mean, what's so special in him?

They tried to find this for many days ever since his Sivaji pay package was announced but couldn't come to a solid conclusion. So now, they've joined the fan club too, with the movie's release getting closer. Covering items like "Pal Abhisekams" to his posters and starting contests like "Why I am Rajni's greatest fan", the news channels have slowly started stooping to the range of Zoom TV, B4U etc. I don't know if I should say the channels have gone down or Rajni has gone up. But definitely as one of the speakers in the show put it, "The channels depended on him and he didn't depend on them." They were catering to the appeal of a large Indian mass who's tastes have gone down, I would want to say. But being one in that mass, I wouldn't say that.

Coming to the big question at the top, it is as absurd as asking, "Has the Hollywood failed to recognize Big B as a universal superstar." Their target audience is completely different. The audience's tastes, their expectations and their appeals differ. But one thing that's common to all those who've made it big, is that they've clearly identified their target audience. They have understood where they stand, how far they can reach the people and have properly tried to please their fans. There are lots of escalators reaching to the peak of one's life, taking you slowly to the top. If you suddenly jump from one escalator to another, you are bound to get hurt badly. What Rajni's life has taught us is... Better stay where you are and work hard to improve yourself. It doesn't matter if you start small. Believe in yourself. Stick to your conviction(who knew 30 years back that his style would be the only thing that brought him to this level? He
did!). And yeah, be god-fearing. That divine grace will definitely make a difference in your life.