His flight to Mumbai is endlessly delayed and so too is our conversation till Gulshan Grover finds a quiet corner in the airport to open up on a subject close to his heart. “The first thing that comes to mind when I think of Rajinikanth Garu is his niceness. I have come back with a warm feeling after every interaction because of his simplicity, humility and magnanimity,” asserts the ‘Bad Man’.
He worked with the South supremo for the first time in cinematographer Sudarshan Nag debut directorial, Insaf Kaun Karega. The 1984 superhit was written by KC Bokadia and produced by his son Suresh, with Rajinikanth as Inspector Vikram, Dharmendra as Veeru and Gulshan as Baggad. It was followed, the next year, by Nyayam Meere Cheppali, the Telugu remake of Ravi Chopra’s Hindi vigilante drama Aaj Ki Awaz, and another action film, SS Ravichandra’s Mahaguru.
“Rajini Garu was a warm and courteous co-star, but in Chennai, he was always surrounded by people, so it wasn’t till Tyagi, which we shot in Mumbai, that I got to know him well,” informs Gulshan, who plays, Prem, Rajini’s wayward brother, in this 1992 action drama.
On the last day of the schedule, producer-director KC Bokadia suggested that Rajinikanth check-out of the hotel in the morning and after pack-up, drive straight to the airport, expecting the shooting to continue. But to everyone’s surprise, they were done in a couple of hours, and since they were shooting on the road, in Versova, there was nowhere for the superstar to go.
“Since we were friends now and I lived close by, I told him he could come home with me, take a shower, have some lunch and relax in comfort there. When it was time for him to leave, I would drive you to the airport myself. He agreed immediately,” Gulshan recounts, describing it as a “wonderful experience” for both his young son Sanjay and him to spend some quality time with the superstar.
Some years later, when Gulshan was in Chennai, for the shoot of another KC Bokadia film, Rajinikanth invited his co-star, Shatrughan Sinha, and him over to his place for dinner. His house is located in one of the poshest areas of the city, Poes Garden, but Gulshan, who had visited the ostentatious homes of many Bollywood stars, was surprised at how simply the superstar lived. “The décor is tasteful and minimalistic, and we were served a healthy, wholesome, pure South Indian meal. He was the perfect host, but bhabhi (wife Lata) was 10 times more caring and courteous as a hostess. It was an unforgettable evening!” he reminisces.
What impressed him even more is that Rajinikanth, who is a Shatrughan Sinha fan, was fulsome in his praise of the actor. “This man, who was a mega star himself, worshipped by people across the globe, had no hesitation in admitting to me how much he had learnt from watching Shatruji’s films, many of them more than 20 times. His humility was heartwarming and has stayed with me all these years,” says an awed Gulshan, who also remembers being escorted to a room with mirrors, where Rajinikanth practises and perfects his much-imitated trademark gestures.
In 2015, the superstar was a guest at the wedding reception of Shatrughan Sinha’s son, Kush. Gulshan, as usual, was one of the early birds, along with Amitabh Bachchan, who is also known for his punctuality. He was chatting with Bachchan and wife Jaya when their host entered the VVIP room with Rajinikath and in his booming baritone asked him where he wanted to sit. Glancing around the room, Rajinikanth spotted a familiar face, and beaming, he turned to Shatrughan Sinha, saying, “There is Grover—that is how he always addresses the actor. I have found my friend and I will hang out with him. You can go and attend to your other guests.”
Gulshan recalls that they had a blast, with Sonakshi Sinha, who had recently co-starred with Rajinikanth in the Tamil film Lingaa, swinging by for a while. Since he rarely makes public appearances, his presence in Mumbai created quite a flutter with all the other stars wanting a keepsake photograph with Rajinikanth. Gulshan also captured the moment by getting one of the photographers to click him with Rajnikanth and Amitabh Bachachan. “It’s a blockbuster picture, with me in the centre, flanked by two superstars on either side!” he says proudly. Incidentally the ‘Thalaiva’ and the ‘Shahenshah’ have done four films together, including Andhaa Kaanoon in 1983, Geraftaar two years later, Hum in 1991, and more recently, the 2024 Tamil action drama, Vettaiyan. Gulshan points out that they are both humble, with a mutual respect for each other.
They haven’t met of late, but he is confident he will feel the same warmth when they come face-to-face again. It returned when he was watching the 2020 Tamil action thriller, Darbar, in which Rajinikanth plays Aditya Arunachalam, Mumbai’s Police Commissioner. “Rajini Garu has impressed me in every film, but there is a scene Darbar where the antagonist—mafia boss Suniel Shetty’s Hariharan Chopra aka Hari—learns that one of his men has been shot dead in an encounter and asks, ‘Who is that cop?’ The camera cuts to Rajini Garu walking down the corridor of the police station, chortling, ‘I am a Bad Cop’. It was flattering to hear him tweak a line that has become my identity since I introduced myself in Ram Lakhan, with, ‘Kesariya Vilayati, very Bad Man.’” Gulshan chuckles.
On December 12, Rajinikanth turns 75, and on his milestone birthday, the actor wishes him the very best, saying, “I have learnt a lot from him over the years, both as a person and a persona. An actor and a star, and most importantly, as a human being, whose warmth is not cultivated, but inherent and genuine.”
