Akash Bhatnagar (MUMBAI MIRROR; September 23, 2019)

Actor-director Satish Kaushik bumped into Rajinikanth at the Sunny Super Sound studio when the South star was in the city. He admits he met the Thalaiva after almost two years. “I had gone for the screening of Kaagaz, my film with Pankaj Tripathi. It was to start at 6 pm but on reaching the preview theatre, I was told that the screening had been delayed by 15 minutes as Rajini sir was watching something,” informs Satish. He was happy to wait and was downstairs when Rajini came and met him warmly. “It’s amazing how someone of his stature can be so humble. It feels so good. And what’s even better is that he has always been like this,” the veteran gushes, adding that they didn’t talk about work.

Even though the duo has never collaborated, they share a great equation. “Earlier, when Rajini sir would come to Mumbai for a shoot, Javed sir (Akhtar), he and I would get together. Once we met at Sridevi’s birthday party. I was a young director then, directing Sridevi, and he was a superstar. But he spoke to me really nicely,” Satish reminisces, revealing how they almost worked together. “When he learnt that I had a script revolving around a bus conductor, he suggested I narrate it to him. Unfortunately, that never happened, but the chance meeting brought back some fond memories.”