Fans waited till late into the night in order to take in the rare sight of the superstar Rajinikanth, who is otherwise not so easily accessible being interviewed by his mentor K. Balachander who slipped into the role of a scribe. The crowd stayed on at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium on Saturday night for what was the clear highlight of D40 -the 40th anniversary celebration of the Tamil Film Directors Union.

Starting with simple and Starting with simple and comic questions, Balachander would slip in the occasional hard-hitting query. His protégé handled them all adeptly while also being quite candid with his guru who launched him in movies. As usual, every time his film gets released, speculation runs high about Rajini's entry into politics. KB could not resist putting forth the question on his entry into politics. "I don't know, it's in the hands of Almighty," was all Rajini would say. He has said it before and he said it again.

Though several initial questions were simple and hilarious, some of them were hard-hitting, and Rajinikanth handled them all in his own inimitable style and was candid speaking to his mentor and guru. Asked to name his favorite political leader, Rajini came up with the surprising name of Lee Kuan Yew, a former Prime Minister of Singapore.

When Balachander asked him whether stardom had robbed him of his privacy, the Billa star said, "Undoubtedly yes! I want to be a simple person as Sivaji Rao and go around like a common man. It is the price I pay for my stardom! I have become a victim of circumstances. I miss my private life". Asked how he would repay millions of Tamils and the Tamil film industry that has elevated him to the status of the `Superstar', Rajinikanth replied, "I will do what would make them proud." Though the “Endhiran” actor said that he is not keen to direct films, he admitted that his heart lies in theatre. When KB asked Rajini if he would act in his stage drama Major Chandrakanth scheduled for next April, he said humbly, "If my mentor feels he can cast me, I will be fit and ready. I am game for it". Is he ever likely to pen his autobiography? "I have no plans of penning an autobiography now. It has to be an honest one and I feel in that process I may end up hurting some people. Here, sir (KB) referred to Gandhiji's autobiography. When I get the kind of wisdom like Gandhiji, I may think of writing my autobiography," Rajini said. Referring to his recent hit “Endhiran”, which is slated to reach unprecedented heights, he said, "I still have a long way to go". Asked to name his all-time favorite film in his career spanning 154 films, he promptly said, "Baasha, Sri Raghavendra and Endhiran."
An ardent fan of Balachandar, he said he watched his mentor's films “Aval Oru Thodar Kadhai” at least 8 times and “Arangetrram” 12 times.

Asked which people he envies most, Rajini at once said, "People who live in peace in the Himalayas". He also revealed that the sad moments in his life included the time he lost his father. Asked whether he would go the way of the Bollywood star and friend Amitabh Bachchn and do films aiming at winning the national award, the actor said, "It's in the hands of my directors. Personally, I am comfortable doing commercial movies".