Every time there is news about Tamil superstar Rajinikanth, Mavadi Kadepathar, a tiny village near Pune, erupts in excitement. Now that the superstar has finally announced his entry into politics, the villagers are rooting for him.
“He is our Shivaji Gaikwad (also written as ‘Gaekwad’),” say the residents who claim that Rajinikanth’s grandparents had migrated to Karnataka from their village. Many Gaikwads in the village hope that one day he will revisit his roots.
According to the villagers, Rajnikanth’s grandfather migrated to Karnataka leaving behind his family, land and home in search of work. He first settled in Bagewadi in Vijayapura district of Karnataka and then moved to Bengaluru.
However, the family never returned to the Maharashtra village, which is close to the pilgrim centre Jejuri in Pune. In the recent past, villagers have taken efforts to meet Rajinikanth and invite him to his ancestral place. A few years ago, some of them met him at Lonavala, when he was shooting for a film.
“The villagers spoke to him in Marathi and invited him to visit the village. Many villagers have tried to meet him in Chennai. In 2013, we invited him to inaugurate a Marathi literary meet in Saswad. But we got no response,” said Vijay Kolte, a disheartened villager.
No expectations
Villagers say that they don’t expect anything from the superstar but want him just to visit his village once. Mavadi Kadepathar is famous in the region as ‘Rajini’s village’. “Today, he (Rajinikanth) belongs to India, crossing language and State barriers. We are proud of him,” said a villager.
The Indian manus
In 2010, Rajinikanth, after meeting Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray, expressed similar sentiments. When asked about his roots, he had told media, “I am a Marathi manus (person), I am a Karnataka manus and I am a Tamil manus . I am an Indian manus. ” He had also expressed his desire to act in a Marathi film.
Will the star please his loyal fans in his ancestral village? That will be the stuff of a filmi reunion.