Rajini's restlessness knew no bounds. At the airport he shouted at anybody coming his way, kicked innocent assistants and bared his teeth to people who tried getting near him.
"Total nervous breakdown," Nambiar said, shaking his head disapprovingly. Nambiar was a fine actor who played a villain on screen, in complete contrast to his off screen persona. He was a disciplinarian, and a god-fearing man who frequented the Sabari Hills every year and was known for abiding to the 'Sabari Hill rules' firmly. He was conscious of his diet and regularly practiced yoga. The passengers were requested to board the flight. Rajinikanth tried to find his way, cursing loudly.
"Excuse me, sir," said the senior airhostess. "I am sorry, we cannot take a mentally disturbed person on board," and refused to let Rajini inside the aircraft.
"Oh no no no" Nambiar protested. "He is not mentally disturbed. He is just over worked." Other artistes also came to his rescue.
"In that case, sir," said the airhostess relenting a little, "two of you must sign this form, taking responsibility for this person and his in-flight behavior. Otherwise, I won't allow him to board the flight."
Nambiar hesitated for a fraction of a second. "Of course," and braced himself for the occasion. Siva Kumar turned out to be the other signatory.
"It's a week since we got back from Madurai, right?" Rajnikanth asked Siva Kumar, who came back to the present abruptly.
"Yeah, it is almost a week."
The same night Rajinikanth was hospitalized for breaking windowpanes of his rented house, followed by heavy drinking.
Siva Kumar was indeed saddened that a promising star had been writing his own obituary.
Although he avoided talking about the infamous incident, he reflected candidly on Rajinikanth and his careergraph.
"The first time I met Rajinikanth it was on the sets of Kavi Kuyil in which he was a newcomer with just about eight or ten scenes. Kannadasan, the lyricist, was being facilitated by the then Karnataka Chief Minister Devraj Urs. We had been shooting at Chick Mangalore and were requested to reach Bangalore straight from the location.
Rajinikanth, Sridevi, Senthamarai and I hired a taxi and traveled for the next four hours together. I noticed Rajini had been observing everything silently. We reached Bangalore and I addressed a gathering of about a thousand people for about 25 minutes and received a standing ovation. On the way back, Rajini, who had been occupying the passenger seat, turned towards me, and said, "Sir, you've come to my place and received so much applause, will it ever be possible for me to speak like you and keep the audience spellbound?"
In the picture: Rajnikanth and Meena in Muthu
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