Ailing Rajnikant stable, say doctors

Admitted to the super-specialty Sri Ramachandra Medical Center (SRMC) in suburban Porur for “respiratory and gastro-intestinal problems” the actor’s condition has triggered rumours for the past days that he has been undergoing treatment. But doctors and co-stars who have met the 61-year-old Rajnikant report nothing serious.

“Rajnikant is fine, though he requires some detailed investigations,” said an SRMC spokesperson on Wednesday. The latest health bulletin from SRMC adds that the film star has “undergone relevant investigations and is receiving appropriate and comprehensive treatment by a team of doctors. His vital parameters are stable and he spends his time with family members.”

Rajnikant was admitted to SRMC on May 13 after an earlier nearly week-long treatment at another city hospital. His health suffered a setback shortly after production of his latest film ‘Raana’ hit the floors at AVM Studios here on April 29. The superstar was to act in the next sequence on April 30 with Deepika Padukone, the heroine in that film, but was suddenly hospitalised, a source in the Tamil film industry said.

Initially, doctors said he suffered from dehydration. Subsequently, his respiratory problem was attributed to chain smoking, though it has been years that Rajnikant quit smoking. Also, prior to the new assignment, the actor had been doing some strenuous exercises to reduce weight to suit the role. Later, he complained of breathlessness, the source said. After two days at Isabella hospital, he recovered and returned home. 

Yet, on being re-admitted to SRMC, some “minor problems” cropped up in his liver and lungs for which he was treated fully and the liquid collected in his lungs was taken out. A film artiste who met Rajnikanth told his friends in the film industry that the star was cheerful, except that his legs were found a bit swollen.

That indicated a possible kidney problem. But no confirmation on any of these details were available from SRMC Hospital.

On the contrary, the actor’s elder brother Satyanarayan Rao Gaekwad, who has joined the other members of the actor’s family at the hospital, specifically urged all Rajnikant fans and well-wishers “not to believe in the rumours being floated across the state on the actor’s health”.

 Rajnikant needs to be in hospital for observation and rest for another two weeks, but there is nothing alarming about his health, Gaekwad told reporters.

But this has not deterred Rajnikant’s fans and admirers to go on a special pooja-performing spree across Tamil Nadu on Wednesday. These even included some bizarre rituals. One group of die-hard Rajnikant fans in Hosur, after making special offerings to goddess Kalikamba – the actor’s ‘Ishta Devata’ — at the Chandra Choodeshwarar Temple there, squatted on the road and “ate out of mud”, sans plates or plantain leaf.

A bigger group of Rajnikant Welfare Association members from the districts of Nagapattinam, Thiruvarur and Thanjavur, congregated at the famous ‘Big Temple’ in Thanjavur to perform five special ‘yagnas’ to goddess Varahi, all of them praying for their hero’s quick recovery and longevity.