Rajinikanth reveals why he didn't produce Lal Salaam. It has something to do with Baba

As usual, Superstar Rajinikanth made a big splash with his speech at the audio release event of Lal Salaam. While his speech was witty, loaded with plenty of wisdom, it was also funny and honest.

Rajinikanth recalled his daughter Aishwarya's pitch for Lal Salaam. She introduced the project to him by saying that this film would win a National Award. "I immediately decided not to hear the narration. I am not against winning awards, but I am not for making movies only for the sake of awards. I also want to be well rewarded monetarily," he joked.

The struggles of Lal Salaam

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However, when Aishwarya insisted that this film was inspired by a true incident and "need of the hour", he gave it a go. "I was not surprised that she picked this story because I know about Aishwarya," he noted.

Impressed with the film's narration, Rajinikanth got involved with developing the project. He also assisted his daughter with finding the right producers. It should be a cakewalk to find a producer with Rajinikanth backing it right? Apparently, not.

Aishwarya was turned down by a handful of producers before Lyca Productions came on board. "I suggested two or three producers. After the meeting, she was told to contact them a few days later. In industry language, that means no. And I asked her to think from their perspective. What will be on their mind? They might think why can't Rajinikanth produce this movie? He has all the money in the world and still, why is he asking us to produce it?" Rajinikanth recalled.

Rajinikanth's biggest flops

However, Rajinikanth revealed that after Baba (2002) he decided not to produce ever again and that decision even applies to movies made by his daughters. It's worth noting that probably Rajinikanth is the star with the highest number of hits in the history of Tamil cinema. Yet, the films that he had produced, don't seem to click with the audiences. He had written, produced and played the lead role in Baba, which tanked at the box office. So did his 1993 production venture Valli.

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Following the commercial failure of Baba, Rajinikanth compensated the distributors for the losses they incurred and decided to end his ambitions as a producer.

In Lal Salaam, Rajinikanth has played an extened role, while Vishnu Vishal and Vikranth has played lead roles. It's due in cinemas on February 9.

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