In a couple of days, we would be seeing Amitabh Bachchan making his long-awaited debut in Tamil. There were a few times when it almost happened, especially with SJ Suryah’s Uyarndha Manidhan, but the debut got pushed further even as he starred in films like Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy and Kalki 2898 AD in Telugu. The delay was probably to ensure that one of the biggest icons of Indian cinema had to make his debut in Tamil with a film starring one of the biggest icons of Indian cinema — Rajinikanth. Director TJ Gnanavel’s Vettaiyan is the fourth film starring Rajinikanth and Amitabh Bachchan after the three Hindi films, Andha Kanoon, Giraftaar, and Hum.

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In the recently conducted Vettaiyan Audio Launch, Rajinikanth reminisced Amitabh’s influence in his life. “Andha Kanoon was a remake of our very own Sattam Oru Iruttarai. Initially, Mithun Chakraborty was cast in the film, but Amit ji said, ‘Rajini ko bulaao yaar (Call Rajinikanth).'” The superstar went on to add that their other two collaborations — Giraftaar and Hum — were bonafide blockbusters. “Let me tell you about Amitabh Bachchan… Today’s 2k kids might not know of him,” said Rajinikanth, who went on to explain why he considers Amitabh as his role model.

“At the peak of his career, when he was 57-58, Amitji got bored. He bought an apartment in Switzerland and started living there alone. He did everything alone. Seeing that, I also tried doing it in Bengaluru. But Amitji returned after a year or two and he floated ABCL. He wanted to do good films in various languages. But that endeavour backfired. That’s the sad reality of cinema. If you aren’t careful, you will be finished,” Rajinikanth recalled.

“I learnt a lot from him. He is my role model. When he lost the money, and became addled with debt, many were celebrating his downfall. When you go to dizzying heights, there are many who are waiting for you to fall. Sometimes, they don’t even wait for you to fall. They would celebrate even the slightest of slips. And yet, after failing at 65, he came up. He took up the challenge, and stood up for himself. Even now, at 82, he works ten hours a day, kickstarts his day at the gym. If there are people who are waiting to stamp on you when you are down, you have to get up, stand tall, and stamp on the very people who put you down, and climb back to the top. That is Amit ji. And to have him be part of Vettaiyan is a very happy moment,” said Rajinikanth.

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“Amit ji is very punctual, and very disciplined. When he comes to the sets, he will get his scene, sit in a corner, come and ask doubts about details and logic, and then go back to that corner. There will be silence during this time, and he was also clear about how he said his dialogues, and would ask filmmakers if he could change dialogues, etc… It is only then, he would say good morning to everyone,” said Rajinikanth, who was effusive with praise for Amitabh Bachchan’s professionalism.