Online Desk
Amidst several controversies, the ‘Thalaiva’ Rajinikanth’s much-anticipated movie,”Kaala” is out in the cinemas today and fans across the world have been up since 4 am showering love for the superstar. While the public waits with bated breath for any ‘Rajini starrer’ to release, often women who portray important roles in the films are sidelined.
Barring the ‘female-oriented’ films, women who play the superstar’s love interest are stereotyped into singing and looking pretty. Except for few of his films, such as his 1999 release, Padayappa where veteran actress Ramya Krishnan was paired opposite to the star in a ‘negative role’ and his last release ‘Kabali’, where he nonchalantly stood up against patriarchy in contrary to his previous blockbusters where borderline misogyny runs throughout the film and hypermasculinity steps in to save the world.
The 1984 blockbuster, Thambikku Entha Ooru, in a scene shows Rajinikanth barging into a women’s house and kissing her as a punishment for her to learn a lesson – a typical example of imposing hyper-masculinity and using sexual expressions to dominate women.
Despite that, actresses from the Tollywood as well as Bollywood industry do not spare a chance to share screen space with Rajnikanth.
However, since Rajinikanth’s last movie “Kabali” released in 2016, things have started changing, for good. Writer-director Pa.Ranjith’ s Kabali dealt with a Dalit narrative and successfully challenged the skewed man-women power dynamics. In the film, Kumudhavalli, Rajinikanth’s wife played by Radhika Apte is a strong female character who delivered a stark performance and is given screen time at par with Rajnikanth.
Bollywood actress, Huma Qureshi, who plays the character “Zareena” in Pa. Ranjith’s second film with Rajinikanth- Kaala, in an interview with PTI said, “It is a quintessential Rajinikanth film but at the same time, it is not a film where women are seen in just accessory roles, where you are just singing and dancing and looking pretty.”
Qureshi, a critically acclaimed actress, although didn’t open up about her exact role in the movie, she will be seen sharing screen with the 67-year-old superstar.
Apart from Radhika Apte and Huma Qureshi, many young Bollywood actresses have romanced Rajnikanth in the past.
Sonakshi Sinha: Sonakshi Sinha played the leading lady in Rajinikanth starrer Lingaa in 2014. Although the film wasn’t a big hit she made a name for herself in the film industry down south.
Deepika Padukone: Bollywood’s heartthrob and leading actress Deepika Padukone made her Tamil debut in the Rajinikanth starrer Kochadiiyan. The movie released in 2014, was the directorial debut of his daughter, Soundarya. Rajinikanth and Deepika did voice-overs for their motion graphics avatars for the film.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan: The Tamil blockbuster, Enthiran (Robot), starring Aishwarya Rai Bachchan received nationwide recognition. The 2010 release, directed by S Shankar earned National Awards. In this film, Rajinikanth plays a dual role of a scientist as well as a robot.
Manisha Koirala: Manisha Koirala played the love interest of Rajinikanth in the 2002 hit “Baba”. The onscreen chemistry of Koirala and Raini quickly became popular among the fans. The film is still known for the intriguing dialogues and captivating romance.
Source: The New Indian Express