Bachchan, Rajinikanth reunite: A study in contrasting star journeys

When Sattam Oru Iruttarai (literal translation: the law is a dark room), a 1981 Tamil film, was being remade as Andhaa Kaanoon, the first choice to play the vigilante protagonist was Mithun Chkaraborty. Chakraborty had emerged as a big and bankable actor who could do action and dance with equal ease.

 

But, it seems, Amitabh Bachchan, at the peak of his stardom at that time, suggested Rajinikanth for the role and himself offered to play a cameo. 

“Amitji suggested my name and promised to do the guest role if they cast me. That’s how I landed that role,” media reports quoted Rajinikanth as saying at the audio launch of Vettaiyan, his latest outing with Bachchan, which released last month and has reportedly collected more than Rs 250 crore worldwide in its first 22 days. 

The scale of the movie business has changed drastically. Andhaa Kanoon earned a fraction of Vettaiyan’s haul (Wikipedia puts AK’s collection at Rs 5 crore) and was still considered a big hit, the fifth most successful Hindi film of 1983. And that is not the only thing that has changed.

 

Both Bachchan and Rajini are – to paraphrase a 1968 Hollywood movie title – lions in winter. And the contrast they present as brands should be a subject of case studies (it probably is already).

 

Different paths 

Bachchan and Rajini went on to star in two more movies in the 10 years after Andhaa Kanoon: Geraftaar in 1985 and Hum in 1991. But they were already on very different paths as actors. 

Around the time Hum came, Bachchan was struggling to sustain his sway at the box office. His recent trail included duds such as Toofan and Jaadugar, both in 1989, and Ajooba (1990), with only Agneepath (1990) being a somewhat brighter spot.

Rajini, though, would go on to cement his position as arguably India’s biggest film star with Thalapathy (1991), Veera (1994), Baasha (1995), and Muthu (1995). Muthu established him as an international draw. 

As Rajini soared, Bachchan’s fortune plummeted with the tanking of his company, Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Ltd (ABCL), and the nosediving of his acting career. It was only at the turn of the century that he took a second wind as a supporting actor and television host. Rajini remains the leading man to this day. 

It is a different story in the endorsement game, though. Bachchan has endorsed too many products and services to list here. Rajini has hardly endorsed anything, though brands plan fancy things around his movie releases. As this newspaper reported, during the launch of Rajini’s last film, Jailer, Bisleri released limited-edition packs featuring the superstar. 

Now that the two have come out with a movie together after 33 years, this may be a good time to see how they have come along as brands. 

Similar yet distinctive 

Brand experts say Rajnikanth and Bachchan have had very similar yet distinctive journeys. 

“While being very distinctive, the two have many strong similarities. First is the kind of stardom both enjoy — almost having been deified. Both Rajnikanth and Amitabh don’t just have fans, they have devotees, a feat not many actors have achieved,” says Samit Sinha, founder and managing partner, Alchemist Brand Consulting. 

Santosh Desai, brand expert and chief executive officer at Futurebrands, says, “The kind of longevity in the industry both these actors have enjoyed is something not many have been able to.” 

Bachchan, who turned 82 last month, has appeared in movies nearly 250 times in various avatars. Rajinikanth, 73, has done more than 170 films and has another – Coolie – lined up for next year. 

“Amitabh has gone through phases of transformation. From the angry young man who gave voice to the angst of an entire generation to a paternalistic, almost auspicious figure and a television star, Bachchan has reinvented himself over the decades. For Rajinikanth, nothing was impossible in a film, he couldn’t also be killed. That kind of swagger has carried him on through the years,” says Desai. 

This, however, has led to some differences. 

Brand and politics 

Bachchan started ABCL, a film production and event management company which brought Miss World to the country, and eventually went bankrupt. What did work in his favour, though, was becoming the face of brands and a household name. From Cadbury chocolates to Maaza, and Navratna oil to Maggi – Bachchan has done it all.  

Rajinikanth only ever endorsed two products. One was Palm Cola in the 1980s, which claimed to be a 100 per cent natural local cola brand, from the State Palmgur and Fibre Marketing Co-operative Federation. The second was Hoote, a voice-based social media application co-founded by his daughter, Soundarya Vishagan, launched in 2021. In addition, he has been the face of an eye donation campaign for Sankara Nethralaya.  

The two also tried their hands at politics, and failed. 

“Though Amitabh won his first election, it can easily be chalked up to a large sympathy wave for Rajiv Gandhi, after his mother’s assassination. By the time the next election came around, Amitabh had already started to distance himself from the Gandhi family,” says Sinha. 

In the case of Rajinikanth, Desai says the star could never get his timing right. “For the longest time, Rajinikanth only toyed with the idea of jumping on the political bandwagon, probably because the sides were so polarised. While there was excitement initially, by the time he finally took the plunge, there had been too many false alarms and the fans couldn’t care less. They only liked him on the screen, they had decided.” 

There was also the case of Rajinikanth becoming a pan-India star, while Amitabh remained limited to Hindi and Bhojpuri cinema. 

“The time that these stars were rising was very different. There was no concept of a pan-India film industry. There was regional cinema, but the movie business was dominated by Bollywood alone. And so, Bachchan never needed to venture out, while Rajinikanth first starred in Tamil remakes of Amitabh’s films and then entered Bollywood with Andhaa Kanoon,” says Sinha.

Now that Bachchan has debuted in Tamil Cinema, will things change? Is there still time? And just as importantly, you wonder, did Rajinikanth recommend Bachchan for Vettaiyan?