Superstar Rajinikanth, who is in Uttar Pradesh, met Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and touched his feet at his Lucknow residence on Saturday. Calling it a “courtesy meeting”, the CM shared a photo of Rajinikanth with him on social media.
In a video shared by news agency ANI, the southern superstar can be seen greeting the BJP leader with folded hands as he then gets down to touch his feet. “I will watch the film with the CM. It’s God’s blessing that the movie is becoming a hit”, the superstar had told ANI ahead of his visit to the state capital.
#WATCH | Actor Rajinikanth meets Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath at his residence in Lucknow pic.twitter.com/KOWEyBxHVO— ANI (@ANI) August 19, 2023
During their meeting, Yogi Adityanath gifted Rajinikanth a book and a small idol of Lord Ganesh to wish him well for his movie.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Adityanath, in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, said, “Courtesy meeting with eminent film actor Mr Rajinikanth at official residence in Lucknow today.”
प्रख्यात फिल्म अभिनेता श्री रजनीकांत जी से आज लखनऊ स्थित सरकारी आवास पर शिष्टाचार भेंट हुई।@rajinikanth pic.twitter.com/HIByc0aOO0— Yogi Adityanath (@myogiadityanath) August 19, 2023
Rajinikanth will visit Ayodhya with Adityanath on Sunday to seek Lord Ram’s blessings for the success of his film.
Earlier in the day, a special screening of ‘Jailer’ was held in Lucknow, which was attended by Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya. “I also got a chance to watch the movie ‘Jailer’. I had watched Rajinikanth’s many films and he is such a talented actor that even though there is not much content in the movie still with his performance, he increases the importance of the film,” news agency PTI quoted Maurya as saying.
On Thursday, Rajinikanth spent an hour meditating at Yagoda ashram in Jharkhand’s Ranchi. On the previous day, he had held a “courtesy meeting” with Jharkhand Governor CP Radhakrishnan at the Raj Bhavan upon his arrival from Uttarakhand. Rajinikanth, a disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda, the author of ‘Autobiography of a Yogi’, meditated at his guru’s ashram — Yogoda Satsanga Society (YSS), which is headquartered in Ranchi.
The southern superstar reached Ranchi from Dwarahat in Uttarakhand where he had meditated at a cave in Pandavkholi.
After meditating in Ranchi, Rajinikanth visited the famed Chinnamastika temple at Rajrappa in the adjoining Ramgarh district.
Priests of the temple, which is located around 70 km from the state capital on the confluence of the Bhairavi and Damodar rivers, assisted the superstar perform special ‘aarti’ and prayers.
Directed by Nelson Dilipkumar, ‘Jailer’ hit the screens worldwide on August 10. Box office figures of the film have not been disclosed by the production banner Sun Pictures. It also features Vinayakan and Ramya Krishnan. He is also acting in a series of two films — ‘Thalaivar 170’ and ‘Thalaivar 171’.
(with inputs from PTI)