The Brand Rajini

SUPERSTAR

Tamil Cine Industry during 70’sDominated by Sivaji Ganeshan & MGRGap left by them is filled by Kamal and Rajini

NEED WANT DEMAND

Entertainment

Value for Money&

A Good Entertainer

Role ModelStyle

Trend Setter

How it all began?

12 December 1950

difficult childhood

Worked as a coolie Worked as a bus conductor

Villainous Duryodhana role

Joined Madras Film Institute

The Entry

• Gained popularity for exceptional portrayal of villainous role

• First Tamil movie “Apoorva Raagangal” starring Kamala Hassan too.

• First Bollywood movie “Andha Kanoon”.

A Complete Package

• Filled the gap left by MGR, who had a Cult Icon status

• Portrayal as a downtrodden character who could challenge the big and mighty to achieve big things

• The way in which he delivered one line punch dialogues

• The unique style that he brought in.

Cult Icon Status

Character Portrayal

Punch Dialogues

Unique style

Target Group

• Initially his target audience were youth, who saw him as a style icon.

• Once he captured the youth segment he widened his reach to family audience and children with comic capers and one liners.

• His portrayal of different working groups expanded the market.

Competitors

Rajini & the SuperstardomA string of Blockbusters

Annamalai1992

Baasha1995

Padaiyappa1999

Arunachalam1997

Muthu1995

Social Life• Philanthropist, has donated a lot

towards charity.• Daylong fast to protest

the Government of Karnataka's decision to not release Kaveri River water Into Tamil Nadu.

• Met with Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and many experts to canvass support for the Integration of rivers.

• Known to be simple and down to earth.

The Overseas Market

• India’s Prime Minister, mentions about Rajini in his address to the joint session of Japan's Parliament.

• Muthu's success in Japan led American news magazine Newsweek to comment in a 1999 article that Rajinikanth had "supplanted Leonardo DiCaprio as Japan's trendiest heartthrob".

The bigger you are, the harder you fall

• “Baba” – Commercial Flop– Negative Publicity– Paid back distributors

• Kuselan – Drifting off track from his usual storyline– Plays a “Superstar” which was tailor made to

showcase brand.

Adapting to the “CHANGE”

• On his comeback Sivaji, started adapting to new technologies.

• Sivaji – Paid 26 crores – Second highest paid actor in Asia.

• Enthiran – Embraced recent special effects and was a world wide hit