Rajinikanth’s Symbol: Rock, Pop, Yoga and Italian Voodoo!

Rajinikanth’s political announcement is taking the world by storm. So is his symbol. Here’s what it means.

The hand sign represents different meanings across different cultures.

(Photo: Vikram Venkateswaran)

Rajinikanth rang in the new year with a whopper of an announcement – he said his entry into politics is definite.

The moment he made the announcement, he raised his hand in what most non-Tamil speaking people might understand as the ‘rock ‘n’ roll’ salute.

But that’s not the only thing the hand gesture symbolises. It is, in fact, loaded with history and mystery and pop culture from across the world.

Rajini’s fans love it, because this isn’t the first time they’re seeing it. Fifteen years ago, the Thalaiva of Tamil cinema introduced it in his film 2002 film Baba, which he also scripted and wrote the screenplay for.

The movie bombed. Big time. Like Rajini-scale flop... you get the drift.

Rajinikanth had to shell out close to 25 percent of his earnings to compensate distributors.

BUT, the symbol stayed and it became an integral part of Tamil pop culture. Plus, it looks cool, all thanks to western pop culture, where it was already popular by late 1970s.

Watch the video, for more!