Rajini book-ed | Sivaji sells out

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Keywords: Vikshipta, Vishashta

Bangalore: Over 30 years ago, bus conductor Shivaji Rao Gaikwad made a living by punching tickets and yelling out bus routes.

Today, he makes a living and a killing by enchanting thousands on the 70 mm.

Megastar Rajinikanth’s life has been less than ordinary and now a book tracks his journey from the bus stop to the silver screen, from Gaikwad to Rajni.

Rajini - Vichatra, Vishashta, Vikshipta, written by Mahesh Dev Shetty, was launched in Bangalore on Sunday in all four south Indian languages, its release timed aptly before the release of the actor’s folm Sivaji.

The book traces Rajini’s journey through the eyes of his former colleagues, fellow bus drivers and conductors, friends in film school and almost everyone who knew Shivaji Rao Gaikwad before he became Rajinikanth.

"Books on icons are very important, its only when we note down their lives that the future will know about them. A book like this on Rajini ji is very important," says actor, director Ramesh Arvind.

And the author is as much a Rajini fan as the book's readers are likely to be.

"After I wrote this book, I feel that Rajinikanth is not just a superstar on screen, he is a superstar in real life as well. He does not have all the fancies of a big star; he comes to Bangalore in disguise and walks the roads, travels by auto. He is much bigger a star in real life," says Shetty.

Priced at Rs 60, this is one collectible the superstar's followers wouldn't want to miss.