Superstar Rajinikanth, the man of the masses, had too many jolts to bear in 2014, which has plunged him into gloom with the passing away of his mentor K. Balachander. It certainly wasn’t Rajini’s best in recent years and proof to it is the failure of animated film Kochadaiiyaan, controversies over Lingaa and many other issues.
It all started with the catastrophical failure of Kochadaiyaan, which was directed by his daughter Soundarya. While the attempt to tell an Indian story in an animated form featuring the one and only Rajinikanth may have been lauded but the overall response to the idea got a thumbs down from the actor’s legions of fans. But the failure of Kochadaiiyaan pushed Rajini to work harder and return with a bang. The film, which was touted to be made on a budget of Rs. 120 crore couldn’t even break even at the box-office.
It’s precisely why he completed Lingaa in less than six months and got the film released on his birthday this month. But troubles seem to not leave him alone as the film was surrounded by controversies. Not one but three different cases of plagiarism were filed on it. Nevertheless, the film released on time and opened to big numbers, sending Rajini’s fans in celebratory mood. But the happiness didn’t last long as distributors of the film claimed that they suffered high losses on the film and were unsure if they’d recover invested cost, let alone make profits.
