Superstar Rajinikanth met Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath at his Lucknow residence last week. A video of the actor touching the CM’s feet after greeting him has gone viral, with a section of the internet calling the interaction “shocking” and “cringeworthy.”
Rajinikanth arrived in the city last week for the screening of his film ‘Jailer,’ which was attended by UP deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya. Photos and videos of Rajinikanth's interaction with Yogi Adityanath were being widely shared on various social media platforms. The actor, after getting off his car and greeting the UP CM and touching his feet, gave him a flower bouquet, and they both posed for photographers.
"The biggest facepalm and cringefest video of the month," wrote a Twitter or X user. Another one wrote, "This man (Rajinikanth) is a shame to Tamil Nadu. Spirituality has never been about losing self respect!" A tweet also read, "What a fall!! 72-year-old Rajinikanth touching the feet of 51-year-old Yogi Adityanath..." A person also wrote, "This is shocking!”
A person reacted to a Reddit post about their interaction, “If he (Rajinikanth) was just an actor like other heroes, I wouldn't have cared much about that incident. But he is the face of south India. One of the very few celebrities that they can identify from us. Especially in Delhi, when I introduced myself as Tamilan, they said we love Rajinikanth, watch his Tamil films in Hindi etc. Many people don't even know there is a state named Tamil Nadu, but they know Rajinikanth. He should've maintained that respect. Even though people from north aren't going to find any fault in this. It's us, who are deeply disappointed.”
Defending Rajinikanth, a person wrote on Twitter or X, "Don't understand the hue and cry over superstar @rajinikanth touching the feet of @myogiadityanath. Apart from being a politician and chief minister of UP, Yogi ji is also an elevated Nath Yogi and the head of illustrious Gorakhnath Math. You bow to the lineage he represents!”
A day after a 'courtesy meeting' with Yogi, Rajinikanth also met Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav at the latter's residence in Lucknow. Rajinikanth, who is basking in the success of his latest film ‘Jailer,’ said he was happy to reconnect with ‘friend’ Akhilesh after almost a decade.