Rajinikanth in the film. (courtesy: YouTube)
Rajinikanth's latest film Lal Salaam had a promising start at the box office on its opening day. According to a Sacnilk report, the movie, which marks the directorial comeback of Aishwarya Rajinikanth (Rajinikanth's daughter), amassed ₹3.55 crore on its first day across all languages. Lal Salaam revolves around the intertwining themes of cricket and religion, showcasing how the people of a village politicise this beloved sport. Apart from megastar Rajinikanth's portrayal of Moideen Bhai, fans have been lauding Vishnu Vishal's performance as Thirunavukarasu and Vikranth's portrayal of Shamsuddin. The film also features Jeevitha Rajasekhar, Dhanya Balakrishna, and Nirosha Radha in significant roles.
On the day of the release of Lal Salaam, Rajinikanth shared a heartfelt message on X (formerly known as Twitter) for his daughter Aishwarya Rajinikanth. Alongside a picture featuring himself and Aishwarya, the Tamil cinema icon shared his sentiments. The image captures Rajinikanth seated in a wheelchair while Aishwarya stands behind him. Penned in Tamil, the note expressed, "My anbu salaam to my beloved 'mother' Aishwarya. I pray to the almighty that your movie Lal Salaam will be a huge success." Rajinikanth tagged Aishwarya in the post and inserted the hashtag "Lal Salaam."
In a recent conversation with NDTV, Aishwarya Rajinikanth shared her thoughts on the experience of working with her father, Rajinikanth in Lal Salaam. She said, “I think for any filmmaker it is a dream come true. This happened to be because it was never in my carts, never ever imagined in the widest of dreams. So, obviously, it is a huge surreal moment, when you say action and cut for the first time. Extremely emotional as a daughter, extremely surreal as a director. And overall a blessing. Every single day of him being on the set was like a mini masterclass.”
Discussing Rajinikanth's character Moideen Bai and the film's essence, Aishwarya Rajinikanth added, “Moideen Bai plays a very important role in the film. There is a little bit of politics that we have touched upon. There are a little bit of sports that we have touched upon. There is a lot of humanity and human relationships that we have touched upon. So I guess, the film will be a very emotional package which talks about very strong content that is the need of the hour right now.”
Released on February 9, Lal Salaam is backed by Red Giant Movies.