'Like many other fans, my journey with Thalaivar, too, has spanned four decades'

A Rajini fan for four decades: Valasai M Rajni Anand, real estate contractor
I became a fan when...
SP Muthuraman sir’s Priya was the first Thalaivar film I watched on screen. I have been religiously catching the FDFS of his movies since then.
When I met my idol...
I joined his rasigar mandram (fan club) in 1983. I had met him a few times before that, too.Towards the end of the ’70s, when a group of fans, including myself, told him that they were planning to start a fan club, he said that it is Gandhiji who required mandrams and not him. The first time I got a chance to talk to him was when he was the shooting for Ranga at Vijaya Garden, which is near my house. He, along with Raadika, was shaking a leg for the Nalla Katta Naattu Katta song. He asked me to concentrate on my studies and to look after my parents. I still cherish the picture I took with him while he was shooting for Nallavanukku Nallavan (see inset).
Most memorable moments as a fan...
Like many other fans, my journey with Thalaivar, too, has spanned four decades now. The most memorable association in the earlier days was acting in a scene in his Dharmadurai. The shoot of a kabaddi scene was planned in ARS Garden, Porur, and I was asked to facilitate things for the art direction team. The director was impressed with the way I had done the job and asked me to be part of the film. In recent times, the experience of 1,500 fans like me dressing up like Rajini sir for a scene in Kuselan was one that we fans truly enjoyed. Most of us usually go to his movies by wearing a costume which he had used in that particular film. I was in charge of crowd control when Thalaivar unveiled the MGR statue at Dr MGR Educational and Research Institute last year. I was so happy when he appreciated my effort in making the affair a successful one.