Superstar Rajinikanth and his daughter Aishwarya faced the heat of the public after the latter was seen stating that her father was "not a Sanghi" at the audio launch of the upcoming film, Lal Salaam. On Monday, Rajinikanth finally broke his silence and clarified that she never meant to use 'Sanghi' as a bad word.
During the audio launch, Aishwarya stated that on contrary to what people wrote on social media, her father was not a Sanghi, and that he would have not done Lal Salaam had he been one. Her statement drew flak from netizens and Rajinikanth has now come to his daughter's rescue.
Defending Aishwarya, Rajinikanth stated, "My daughter never said that Sanghi was a bad word. She just questioned why was her father labelled that way if when he was into spirituality."
The audio launch of Lal Salaam was held in Chennai on January 26. While speaking at the event, Aishwarya mentioned that while she chooses to stay away from social media, her team keeps her updated with the chatter online. "I used to get angry seeing them. We're human beings too. In recent times, many people call my father a Sanghi. I didn't know what it meant. I then asked someone what was the meaning of Sanghi and they said that people who support a particular political party are called Sanghi," she said.
"I would like to make it clear Rajinikanth is not a Sanghi. If he was, he wouldn’t have done a film like Lal Salaam," she added.
As she made the statement, Rajinikanth was seen getting all emotional and teary-eyed, however, he did not comment on it further.
Aishwarya also mentioned that Lal Salaam has been made to show a very sensitive subject and "only a man with humanity" would have agreed to do it.
The film Lal Salaam is set to mark Aishwarya's return as a director. It is touted to be a sports drama, and has been scheduled to hit the silver screens on February 9.
