No one can hide his age. Age catches up with people at sometime or the other. You may be young at heart but an actor cannot hope to be a hero forever. Once an actor realises this, he is on the road to creating a separate niche for himself. Amitabh Bachchan, Naseeruddin Shah & Anil Kapoor are examples. Dharmender, Shatrughan Sinha and Jeetender preferred to stay away from movies - may be because there are no roles for people like them.

Rajinikant is a brilliant actor - there is no doubt about it. Not many may agree. It is okay. He has star power. He is a super star. But everything has a shelf life. Unfortunately Rajinikant has not realised this. You can milk a brand only to some extent. Beyond that the brand has to deliver. Else it is time to pack up.

I recently watched a movie called - "Bhuvana Oru Kelvikuri" where Rajini's histrionic abilities were put to test against a seasoned but over-rated actor called Sivakumar nee Pazhanichami. But Rajini held his own and his portrayal as the sacrificing lover won accolades from the audiences. Rajini of the 70's is more handsome than all the bearded regamuffins parading Kollywood as heroes put together.

In the late 70's Rajini delivered great performances. People forgave his fast dialogue delivery. Sivakumar's dialogue delivery was worst though he is a Tamilian. But as time passed, Rajini, the actor had to give way to Rajini the super star. In the last few years, we have been witnessing mass hysteria and euphoria over Rajini the super star and not Rajini the actor.

You can never take the customers for granted. You can also never take the audiences for granted. Rajini's star power could not save damp squibs like Kuselan, Baba, Kochadaiyan and Linga. Linga was a big disappointment. Rajini should realise that acting opposite heroines like Anushka Shetty and Sonakshi Sinha who are like his grand-daughters is going to be jarring. As I said earlier, Rajini's age and fatigue is showing on the screen. The punch dialogues are not yielding the desired effect. The so called sychophant fans are not doing any good through an overkill of brand worhsip. The wigs on the hair and the powder on the face are not going to show us the Rajinikant of 'Mullum Malarum" or "Thappu Thalangal".

It is time to move on. Look at actresses like Sadhana, Vyjayanthimala, Suraiya and Suchitra Sen. Once they called it quits it was forever. They diverted their attention to other things. It is time for Rajini to go to the Himalayas and introspect. It is time for Rajinikant the actor to be born again.

What Rajini needs now are scriptwriters who do not eulogise him but who show him the real picture. Real friends are those who show you the big picture, who tell you not to miss the woods for the trees. Rajinikant started his career with "Apoorva Ragangal", an art movie. Why doesn't he venture into parallel cinema? He has earned his millions. Money is not the criterion. Rather than deliver one flop after another, it is better to call it quits when the time is ripe. Or switch over to more meaningful cinema like the way Amitabh did with "Black", "Baghban" and "Cheeni Kum".

Family members do more harm to a star than anyone else. If Rajini's daughters cannot think of a solid script for their dad, then it is futile to expect the same from others. Aroordas is still alive and active. Why can't he be approached for a powerful script for Rajinikant? 

Please do read the review of the movie - Bhuvana Oru Kelvikuri that is going to be published soon.