Topic started by SS Kumar (@ ip68-0-179-82.tc.ph.cox.net) on Thu Aug 1 15:50:46 .
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.

Hello friends,

Saw Baba stills.
In almost every still Rajini is either seen drinking or smoking, eulogising the above 2 unwanted habits. I am not commenting on his personal preferences but as a personality with such a great influence on youngsters and the illiterate people (the influence being more now than before) Rajini should not be doing this. I am not saying that no drinking and smoking should be shown in the movie but what is the need for showing smoking and drinking on publicity stills?
Just because he is famous doesn't mean that he could corrupt the society. Where does he get this audacity? Isn't it not us who gave such anti-socials this high place? Nobody can stop BABA from being a hit but atleast as responsible Indian citizens we should show our protest in some way. One way is to boycott BABA.

Responses:

• Old responses
  
• From: thila (@ ce7.time.net.my) on: Tue Aug 6 01:35:54
  
  In 1975, when Rajinikanth was becoming popular, Berkley cigarette wanted to make a commercial with him. The first question Rajinikanth asked after meeting them was, 'Why should they pay me? I am getting so much of publicity. What do they get?' "He was quite naive", says filmmaker S.V. Ramanan, recounting this incident about his close associate.
  
  He always says he is indebted to the people of Tamil Nadu. He will take the plunge when the time is ripe. It won't be in the near future.
  
  Today, Rajinikanth is anything but naive. The films he has produced, the property he owns and the trusts and charities he runs are numerous: nobody really knows what he is actually worth. Giving his persona another fillip is 'Rajini 25', a 14-day extravaganza in Chennai to celebrate his 25 years in the film industry from December 12, his birthday.
  
  "Rajini 25 is our tribute to Rajinikanth", says Latha, his wife. The highlight is a theme exhibition on Rajinikanth's life and career at the Dr MGR Film City, besides souvenirs like gold coins and watches with 'Rajini 25' engraved on them apart from a designer cafeteria serving the star's favourite dishes. The icing on the cake will be an entertainment show on December 23 in which Amitabh Bachchan is scheduled to participate. The show will also have Latha crooning live for the first time in Chennai.
  
  'Rajini 25' is our tribute to Rajinikanth: Latha with her superstar husband
  
  While some tend to dismiss the show as over-publicity, it is true that Rajinikanth is one of the most powerful men in Tamil Nadu today. Billed as the state's future chief minister, Rajinikanth has kept the public guessing about his political plans. His recent films have been full of political messages, but the star himself has refused to take the plunge. "He always says that he is indebted to the people of Tamil Nadu. He will take the plunge when the time is ripe, and it won't be in the immediate future," says Ramanan.
  
  Whenever he does, it will be another milestone in the life of Shivaji Rao, the youngest in a lower middle class Maharashtrian family of six in Bangalore. He had worked as a clerk and a coolie before landing the job of a bus conductor with the Karnataka transport corporation. Impressed by his performance as Duryodhana in an annual play of the transport union, his friends insisted that he take up acting as a career. At the same time the film institute in Chennai had advertised for an acting course and Shivaji Rao enrolled for it with the money given by his friends. The rest is history.
  
  When he was in his final year, K. Balachander cast him in Apoorva Ragangal and gave him the name Rajinikanth. His entry in the climax scene of that 1975 film, in a sense, signified the entry of a new star in the Tamil film industry. His first film as hero was Bhairavi in 1978. Rajinikanth's transformation from the mean-looking, pan-chewing villain in Padhinaru Vaidhinile, Gayathri, Moondru Mudichu and Avargal to the swashbuckling do-gooder was remarkable. His 'Rajini style' mannerisms caught the fancy of the masses.
  
  The man whose ambition at one stage had been to possess 'a Vespa scooter, a one-room flat and all the cigarettes money can buy', suddenly found himself being paid Rs 5 lakh a film. The wealth and fame went to his head. "That was a wild Rajini who valued wine, drugs and women more than anything else," says a veteran film critic. But in 1982, marriage changed his life. The soft-spoken Latha, who had met Rajinikanth to interview him for her college magazine, was a calming influence.
  
  Rajinikanth also discovered spirituality. In rapid succession, he discovered Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Ramana Maharshi and Swami Raghavendra. It was in a way, a reiteration of his devotion when he played Raghavendra in the runaway hit Sri Raghavendra in 1985. He also named the kalyana mandapam he built in Chennai after the saint.
  
  The Raghavendra trust he set up supports the education of about 100 students in each district of Tamil Nadu every year, while he performs 25 free marriages in a year at the hall. His contribution to the film industry has been in terms of the lumpsum money he gave to veteran artistes like V.K. Ramaswamy from the proceeds of the two films he produced, Arunachalam and Padayappa, his 150th film. He has acted in 96 Tamil films and 24 Hindi, apart from a few in Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Bengali and English.
  
  He is highly religious. He goes to Rishikesh and the
  Dayananda Saraswati ashram in Anaikatti near Coimbatore
  every year.--S.V. Ramanan (left, with Rajini)
  
  In the time-honoured tradition of Tamil Nadu, it was inevitable that Rajinikanth would become politically active. And he did, in 1995. At a function organised to celebrate the silver jubilee of his film Baasha, Rajinikanth criticised the 'bomb culture' prevailing in the state. A furious Jayalalitha, then the chief minister, sacked her cabinet minister R.M. Veerappan who was present at the function as the producer of Baasha.
  
  Though his support helped the DMK-TMC alliance win the 1996 elections, in 1998 the alliance lost many constituencies. In 1999 Rajinikanth played it safe by asking his supporters not to vote for corruption (read Jayalalitha). His last political statement was in Padayappa in which he declares 'yen vazhi tani vazhi' (My path is a unique path).
  
  For all his gregariousness on screen, Rajinikanth is a recluse in real life. "He goes to Rishikesh and the Dayananda Saraswati ashram in Anaikatti near Coimbatore every year. He is a highly religious person," says Ramanan. But his associates admit that he is shrewd and intelligent. "He knows the power of mass media and how to exploit it," says the film critic.
  
  And it is only a matter of time before Rajinikanth takes the plunge into politics
  
  
• From: thila (@ ce7.time.net.my) on: Tue Aug 6 01:36:26
  
  The plot thickens
  When Rajinikanth recently announced that he had earmarked the Raghavendra kalyana mandapam in Kodambakkam, Chennai, for the people of Tamil Nadu, it generated a cynical response. "The property is not even legally his. It is indeed very large-hearted of him to donate it to the public!" says K. Manoharan, who claims to be the true owner of the property. He has a dispute running with Rajinikanth for the last two decades.
  
  The land in question, around 1.75 acres, is part of zameen awarded by the British to one Murasu Ponnambalai in 1808. Through succession it came to Manoharan's relative Rajaram, who sold it to Manoharan. Later one Asadullah Basha illegally occupied the land and even managed to get a patta for the land. But the patta was dismissed in 1977. In 1985, Manoharan decided to sell the land to liquor baron Ramaswamy Udayar and got an advance of Rs 61,000 from him.
  
  In the meantime, Basha sold the land to Rajinikanth who started constructing the marriage hall. Initially, Udayar and Rajinikanth fought over the ownership before amicably resolving the issue. Manoharan then approached MGR but the ailing chief minister could do little. Construction resumed on the site in 1987 after a six-month stay.
  
  "In 1989 I filed a case for stopping the construction and appointment of a commissioner to measure the land since Rajinikanth's lawyers maintained that the land was only about 0.70 acres," says Manoharan. In October last year, a commissioner was appointed. But the appointment was stayed after Rajinikanth's lawyers filed a case saying the visit of a commissioner would cut into a day's earnings of the hall.
  
  "Today one ground of that land costs Rs 40 lakh. Rajinikanth is actually defrauding my client," says Poongudi, Manoharan's advocate. She also finds it galling that Rajinikanth is earning more than Rs 5 crore every year from the hall. Manoharan, who claims that he has spent more than Rs 60 lakh on this dispute, also claims that he has been repeatedly attacked by Rajinikanth's men.
  
  Manoharan still pays land tax for this property. According to him, the hall doesn't have the approval of the Madras Metropolitan Development Authority and the Corporation. "All this can't happen without the knowledge and consent of Rajinikanth," says Poongudi. "But he is realising that things are getting a bit too hot for him. Hence this grand gesture of dedicating the hall to the people." This is one case, where Rajini may have bitten off more than he can chew.
  
  
  
• From: thila (@ ce7.time.net.my) on: Tue Aug 6 01:39:06
  
  It is speculated that Baba is sold for 40crores.Some sources quote 90 crores
  Major portion of the revenue from Baba will be donated to Sri Raghavendra Educational Trust
  
  
• From: thila (@ ce7.time.net.my) on: Tue Aug 6 01:40:26
  
  the conclusion is rajini is not greddy as kamal hassan who is making money to act his dream movie
  marudanayagam
  
  
• From: BaBa (@ ce7.time.net.my) on: Tue Aug 6 01:41:19
  
  
  
  
  dont judge the book by its cover
  
  
• From: thila (@ ce7.time.net.my) on: Tue Aug 6 01:42:59
  
  known is a drop
  unknown is an ocean
  
  
• From: Fightfortheright (@ proxy.samart.co.th) on: Tue Aug 6 04:26:03
  
  Hai Mr. SSKumar...
  
  As a responsible Indian Citizen..what are all the good deed you have done till this second?! Plz..explain those things here first..and they you can advise / request all the people to boycott the FILM Baba...
  
  (Everybody knows itz a very bad taste & fashion here in this forumhub nowadays to pull out the crowd in your topics by simply talk nonsenses about rajini or Baba..!!)
  
  
• From: Raghu (@ 217.158.120.226) on: Tue Aug 6 05:02:40
  
  >>Major portion of the revenue from Baba will be donated to Sri Raghavendra Educational Trust <<
  
  great news!! keep up the good work, super*
  
  
• From: Srid (@ 203.200.28.5) on: Tue Aug 6 05:41:20
  
  We all have to boycott BABA film for minimum 25 days, since it will be very crowded, tickets are only for Rajini Fans Associations only..!!!!
  
  
• From: Milton (@ palo8.pacific.net.sg) on: Tue Aug 6 06:46:48
  
  Srid,
  Ha ha well said.
  
  
• From: Raghu (@ 217.158.120.226) on: Tue Aug 6 06:55:00
  
  yah;
  
  u tell them Srid
  
  
• From: Raghu (@ 217.158.120.226) on: Tue Aug 6 07:58:49
  
  guys
  
  chek this out
  
  http://www.cinesouth.com/masala/05082002/sm.shtml
  
  
• From: Windy hill (@ its-wn-prox2.its.rmit.edu.au) on: Tue Aug 6 21:10:40
  
  Why? Did manisha's copper-t come off?
  
  
• From: Ashok (@ 210.187.170.154) on: Thu Aug 15 09:32:04
  
  Hi Guys,
  Click the address below to read BABA Movie Review only at your NEW MEDIA ONLINE
  
  http://www.New-Media.8m.com
  
  

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