Chennai:
Superstar Rajinikanth met Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Friday, their first meeting after he recovered from an illness which saw him admitted to several hospitals for treatment last year. He met her to hand over a Rs 10-lakh contribution to the state government's Thane cyclone relief fund. The cyclone, which hit Tamil Nadu and Puducherry on December 30, left 48 dead and caused widespread damage to property and roads.
Coming very soon - this was the message he had for his fans as he emerged from the meeting, which he described as a courtesy call. The superstar said that he would soon begin work on his next film Kochadaiyaan, being directed by his daughter, Soundarya.
Rajinikanth, whose popularity as a film star is unmatched, especially in Tamil Nadu, has attempted a delicate balancing act when it comes to displaying his political allegiance.
When the Tamil Nadu Assembly polls were held in April last year, television cameras that followed him to a polling booth controversially tried to capture who he was voting for and there was much speculation that his hand had hovered near the election symbol of Ms Jayalalithaa's AIADMK. A few hours later he was seen seated next to Mr Karunanidhi at a film screening. The film, Ponnar Shankar, was based on a novel written by Mr Karunanidhi.
Rajinikanth later clarified to Karunanidhi that it wasn't a deliberate gesture and that he had just posed for cameras and his fingers had strayed towards the AIADMK symbols.
Then, when he was discharged from a Singapore hospital after an illness in June last year, one of the first political leaders Rajini called was Ms Jayalalithaa. But he followed this up almost immediately with a phone call to Mr Karunanidhi, consoling him about being voted out as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister a few months before.
Rajinikanth was shooting for the Tamil film Rana on April 29 when he complained of exhaustion and was admitted to hospital for treatment. He was later taken to Singapore. The film has been put on hold for the time being.
In 1996, Rajinikanth had declared that "Even God can't save Tamil Nadu if Jayalalithaa is elected to power". The DMK won that election but the superstar made up with Ms Jayalalithaa later.
Coming very soon - this was the message he had for his fans as he emerged from the meeting, which he described as a courtesy call. The superstar said that he would soon begin work on his next film Kochadaiyaan, being directed by his daughter, Soundarya.
Rajinikanth, whose popularity as a film star is unmatched, especially in Tamil Nadu, has attempted a delicate balancing act when it comes to displaying his political allegiance.
When the Tamil Nadu Assembly polls were held in April last year, television cameras that followed him to a polling booth controversially tried to capture who he was voting for and there was much speculation that his hand had hovered near the election symbol of Ms Jayalalithaa's AIADMK. A few hours later he was seen seated next to Mr Karunanidhi at a film screening. The film, Ponnar Shankar, was based on a novel written by Mr Karunanidhi.
Rajinikanth later clarified to Karunanidhi that it wasn't a deliberate gesture and that he had just posed for cameras and his fingers had strayed towards the AIADMK symbols.
Then, when he was discharged from a Singapore hospital after an illness in June last year, one of the first political leaders Rajini called was Ms Jayalalithaa. But he followed this up almost immediately with a phone call to Mr Karunanidhi, consoling him about being voted out as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister a few months before.
Rajinikanth was shooting for the Tamil film Rana on April 29 when he complained of exhaustion and was admitted to hospital for treatment. He was later taken to Singapore. The film has been put on hold for the time being.
In 1996, Rajinikanth had declared that "Even God can't save Tamil Nadu if Jayalalithaa is elected to power". The DMK won that election but the superstar made up with Ms Jayalalithaa later.
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