Rajinikanth may have referred to Narendra Modi as a “dear friend”, but his wife Latha took it a notch higher. The Superstar’s wife described the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate as someone who is “like a member of our family”, while speaking to Express on Saturday. The iconic actor and the political heavyweight met at the actor’s residence just 10 days before the State went to the polls, and Rajinikanth displayed a show of affection that was far beyond anything he had shown towards other politicians.
Incidentally, the Rajini-Modi picture went viral and till date has 10.36 lakh likes and has been shared 71,327 times, which is a testament to their combined popularity. “He’s a great friend and he came and visited Rajini when he was in hospital,” she said when asked about Modi driving across town simply to meet the actor and his entire family, before heading back to address a public meeting. “That shows it (his bond). It’s almost like he’s part of the family and we were honoured that he came to visit us,” she added.
And the good karma carried through to voting day, as Rajini was the first person to cast his vote at Stella Maris, at a chirpy 7 am on Thursday.
“He didn’t want to be the first person to vote, to be honest,” said Latha nodding her head, “He normally waits to go and vote in the morning, but this time he decided to do it early. He never plans all this, it just happens that way,” she added.
Not one to usually speak to the media, Latha Rajinikanth opened up because of rumours and reports that Kochadaiiyaan — directed by her daughter Soundarya and starring her husband — was in financial trouble and would not meet its May 9 release date.
“Everything is on track for the release and I will be there watching the movie’s first show with his fans, as I have done all these years,” she said with a laugh.