Southern star Rajnikanth has his own way of doing things-remember his patent cigarette flipping act-and Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan, his Robot co- star, is among Rajni's many fans.
So, while shooting for Robot Aishwarya came up with a smart plan to watch Rajni flip his cigarette in the air and catch it in his mouth. During a scene where the actor was to perform the act, Ash deliberately kept on making mistakes so that she could watch him in every retake.
An unsuspecting Rajni ended up doing the scene six times as Ash revealed her plan to him only after the shoot was over. The actress said at the film's music launch: "I was doing a scene in which Rajni sir had to do the cigarette flipping stunt. And I couldn't stop myself from turning around to see him in the act. I thought to myself: 'We will go for a second take. Let me take a look at my favourite star'."
Rajnikanth, on his part, appeared in Mumbai for the promotions of the `150-crore film. At one such event, he brought the house down with his wit and humour. "Kamal Haasan was first supposed to do the role and then Shah Rukh Khan was approached. I don't know what happened," he said amid applause.
He also evoked laughter while recalling an instance where a neighbour was shocked to learn that Ash was his heroine. The neighbour had asked Rajni who was the hero "after I told him that Aishwarya Rai is the heroine". When Rajni answered he was playing the hero, "the family head's jaw dropped. He wondered what was wrong with Abhishek and Amitabh Bachchan to have let Aishwarya be Rajnikanth's heroine", the actor said.
Finally, he thanked Ash for agreeing to work opposite him and praised Amitabh.
