Rajnikanth, the name says it all. He is the only actor to be treated as next to God in south India.If some actor shares such a charismatic mass appeal that people worship him, it's surely being none other than the ‘Thalaivar' himself, Rajnikanth.This 62-year old balding man, known to his legion of fans as Anbu Thalaivar (beloved leader) – Rajnikanth when comes on screen, people go nuts, they jump down their seats, scream incoherently and act insane.He is the only man who has stretched the intangible boundaries of the southern Indian cinema beyond fame, popularity and honour. Rajnikanth is by far the most celebrated and arguably India's biggest superstar.Initially named as Shivajirao Gaikwad, Rajnikanth spent his earlier days of struggle as a bus conductor. He is today best known for his huge and unmatchable country-wide stardom in the southern Indian films of Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam. A new documentary film has been made portraying the die-hard Rajnikanth's fan following, revolving around the passion and obsession that the fans all over the country hold for him. ‘For the love of a man', is a documentary that chronicles the amount of love and respect that the very ordinary people of India shares, who sell their property to fund fan clubs, carry prayer meetings for the actor's films, and even look for wives or husbands based on whether they are Rajnikanth fans or not.The documentary is likely to get released next year. Amsterdam-based filmmaker Rinku Kalsy followed these fans for nearly three years to understand their obsession with Rajnikanth.The documentary quest to search the reason behind Rajnikanth's such extreme grandeur among his fans. The actor, who still romances women more than half his age in his films, and is the country's highest paid film-star, has made a career of playing the everyman. His characters are virtuous, and at times, fight the system.His fans, especially the older generation, belong to lower-middle-class families, typically live in slums, and barely eke out a living. But when it comes to their “Thalaivar”, they stop at nothing.Rajnikanth's mannerisms, especially his style of flicking his sunglasses, have been imitated several times by many Bollywood stars. Earlier this year, Shah Rukh Khan, who is Bollywood's biggest star, paid tribute to the “Thalaivar” in his film “Chennai Express.The filmmaker, who grew up in Mumbai, on a “healthy dose of Bollywood and Bollywood stars” said this kind of obsession was unseen. “I've heard of people traveling miles to meet Bollywood stars. But this transcends all that.”The film quotes the rare instances that shook Rajnikanth fans. The documentary shows the plea that Rajnikanth fans faced in 2011 when he fell seriously ill. He was hospitalised in Singapore and news updates on his health were sketchy at best. Ravi Anna, the president of one of the oldest fans clubs in Tamil Nadu, became incoherent, stopped eating and fell ill himself. The club pooled its money and sent his brother Murugan to Singapore, so that he could give them updates.Murugan, who doesn't know how to read or write, went to Singapore, stood outside the hospital every day, and sent his brother photos from there. “When our mother died, the pain was there till the time we cremated her. But when Thalaivar was in hospital we had fear and pain for all 60 days. It was no ordinary pain,” Murugan is shown as saying in the documentary.
