Gaurav Dubey (MID-DAY; March 20, 2014)

Twenty years after Rajinikanth first sang a playback song for a film, the legendary actor has taken to the mic again. This time around, he has sung a song called Bol de (Maatram Ondrudhaan Maaradhadu in Tamil) for his daughter Soundarya Ashwin’s directorial debut, Kochadaiiyaan. Music for this film has been composed by maestro A R Rahman, and the song has been recorded in Tamil and Hindi.

Speaking about the track, Soundarya says, “When I asked my father to sing for the film, he immediately agreed. I then asked him why he hadn't sung for a film in such a long time, and he said that no director had asked him to do so. Interestingly, my father has earlier sung for the Tamil film, Mannan, but this was 20 years ago. Since Kochadaiiyaan is a tri- lingual film, he has sung in Tamil and Hindi for one of the tracks. This is a first for him and it will be treat for all his fans. The song dwells on philosophy and given the deep meaning of the lyrics, it wasn’t too hard a task to convince my father to sing the song.”

It may be pointed out that the first song that Rajinikanth sung was called Adikuthu Kuliru and was composed by Mannan’s music director Ilaiyaraaja.

Srinavasa Ramanujam (BOMBAY TIMES; March 8, 2014)

Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, who had paid a tribute to South megastar Thalaiva Rajinikanth in the foot-tapping Lungi Dance number in Chennai Express, will be flying to Chennai to attend the trailer and music launch of Rajinikanth’s magnum opus Kochadaiiyaan tomorrow.

The actor will take a charter plane to Chennai on Sunday morning, where he will join Deepika Padukone, AR Rahman and others. Confirming the news, director Soundarya Rajinikanth Ashwin says, “Yes, we are delighted that Shah Rukh Khan will be present on the occasion. He has always voiced his staunch support towards all of Mr Rajinikanth’s work and has gone out of his way to be part of the launch.”