Legendary actor Rajnikanth has been criticised several times for playing roles alongside much younger female actors in the movies. Although, the actor has never been heedless about the criticism.
Aishwarya Rai and Rajnikanth starred in S Shankar’s film ‘Robot’ (Enthiran). The actors played the role despite being aware of the vast age difference between them which is 23-years. During the launch of the film in 2010, the actor even spoke about issue while talking to the media.
Rajnikanth narrated a hilarious story of how a man he met wouldn’t believe that he had been cast as Aishwarya Rai’s hero in a movie. He said, “I’m not exaggerating. In Bangalore, my brother’s house is there, I went there. Nearby, one Rajasthani tenants, they have come there. After knowing I was there, he came to see me. His name was Nandulal. He is some 60 plus. He came and say ‘Hey Rajini, what happened to your hair?’ I said, ‘Jhadd gaye yaar, chorro (it shed, let’s forget about it).'”
The man then asked Rajnikanth if he was having fun after retiring and the actor informed him that he would be playing a role in a film called ‘Robot’ alongside Aishwarya Rai. “He said, ‘Aishwarya Rai heroine? Arre kamaal ka ladki hai, fantastic. Who is the hero?'” Amitabh Bachchan was sitting in the audience and is also Aishwarys’s father-in-law, at this, he burst into laughter and so did the rest of the audience.
Rajnikanth added, “I said I am the hero. He asked, ‘Are you?’ His kids were also with him and told him, ‘Daddy he is the hero’. Then 10 minutes he was there and didn’t speak a word. He was staring me only. Then okay bye bye bye. Then I hear a voice from outside. ‘What has happened to Aishwarya Rai?’, ‘What has happened to Abhishek Bachchan. Leave it.’, ‘What has happened to Amitabh Bachchan?'”
Later, Rajnikanth concluded the story by thanking his co-star, Aishwarya Rai. The film ‘Robot’ was a hit at the box office. The film also got a sequel later in 2018 and had starred Akshay Kumar and Amy Jackson.