A woman of substance

At age 30, Soundarya Ashwin has the rare privilege of being the first female to direct south side superstar, Rajinikanth for a feature film and that makes her a very lucky woman, if you ask any of his fans. But then, Soundarya is no ordinary woman

WHEN SOUNDARYA ASHWIN launches her father as Kochadaiiyaan, a longhaired Shiva-worshipping warrior and dancer this May, she will also create history as the pioneer of motion capture technology in the Indian film industry. The bi-lingual Kochadaiiyyan, meanwhile, is already creating huge excitement in a country where Rajinikanth rules the hearts of millions. Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan, who launched the promo of the film in Mumbai last week, has already given Soundarya’s directorial debut the thumbs up, terming it “incredible”, on his Twitter account last week.

Not that she needs any validation at this point. The lovely lass who could easily get herself a heroine’s role, has only ever been interested in directing and production and fulfilled her dream by picking up the ropes of the trade in the United States of America. Getting her father to act in her directorial debut might not have been difficult for her since the superstar has publicly acknowledged the contribution of the three women — wife and two daughters — in his life.

We are not sure how she felt directing the film in which her father stars with a 28-year-old Deepika Padukone as female lead but then, that cannot have been such a problem considering that the Indian film industry regularly has significantly older actors playing romantic leads with actresses who are often a quarter of their age. Now that Kochadaiiyaan is already wrapped up , with Rajini in a triple role , news is out that he might play the romantic lead opposite another young Hindi film actress, also younger than Soundarya, for his next film.

With just a month to go before the release of her directorial debut, Soundarya has unleashed a media blitzkrieg with appearances in every publication imaginable, talking about the challenges and the joy of working with her father.

“I am a Rajini fan . I hero worship him as a father, yes, but I also go to the theatres and climb atop chairs and scream when he makes an entry or delivers a punch dialogue. He’s my dad but he is also Thalaivar; people set the mood at such times and it’s impossible to not get carried away,” she said of her father and the experience of directing him.

But more than anything else, Soundarya is smitten by the man who continues to be true to himself, no matter how much fame and adulation he has got along the years. “My father never once forgot that he was once a bus conductor. He may become a younger man on screen but it is a world of make-believe, but he appears as he is off screen. He hasn’t forgotten his humble beginnings and that is what makes him Thalaivar,” she said recently.

We wish this young lady the very best. After all, she is bringing us the man himself, after a four year absence from the screen.