Rajinikanth postpones session with fans amidst demand of individual pictures with him

Tamil film superstar Rajinikanth has postponed a plan to meet fans after they demanded individual photos with him, saying the numbers had become too large for the session to be practical. Instead, he said in an audio message today, that he will conduct the session “in future” by inviting fans from two districts at one time and take pictures with them individually.” The 66-year-old star said, “I will announce the meeting date in future. I think you all will understand and extend cooperation.”

The sudden postponement of the session, which was scheduled to take place April 12-16 in Chennai, triggered speculation on whether the actor would be once again persuaded to take the political plunge, a demand which he has been resisting. While his fans have been urging the actor to join politics for the past several years, some political parties have also tried to woo him in view of his mass appeal.

His last such photo session meeting with fans was in 2009, after the success of the mega-hit Sivaji. In his message, Rajinikanth told the fans he knows that they have been “constantly requesting to meet me and take pictures.” That’s why, he said, the April 12-16 session was set up where he was going to meet fans from four to five districts, averaging 300 people daily.

“We had decided to invite 1,800 to 2,000 fans -- to participate during the meeting. It was my desire,” he said. “But, later, we realised that it is not practically feasible to take individual photographs with everyone during the meeting and had decided to take photo sessions in eight member groups,” he said.

However, a majority of fans had expressed disappointment, saying they would not be able to display an individual photograph, he said. “I feel it is fair on their part to make such a demand. Since we realised it is difficult to take pictures individually, we decided to postpone the meeting,” he said.