CHENNAI: Ruing the lack of privacy, actor Rajinikanth poured out his mind to ace filmmaker K Balachander saying that he felt like a prisoner and could not be like any ordinary citizen. The filmmaker then asked if he felt like a prisoner of circumstance (soozhnilai kaidhi) and Rajini said “Yes”.

This excerpt was from a rare 24-minute session where the superstar was interviewed by his mentor filmmaker. The venue happened to be at the 40th anniversary celebrations of the Tamil Nadu Thiraippada Iyakkunargal Sangam.

During the interview, Rajini endeared all with his repartees. His most famous and controversial mannerisms and flipping of the cigarette also ignited some parts of the discussion.

In the rapid fire round, Balachander asked Rajini how many cigarettes he smoked a day. Rajini’s immediate response was: “I have reduced it a lot now”.

Balachander asked several questions that touched upon the unknown spiritual, film and personal side of the actor. When asked whom he considered as his favourite superstar, Rajini named former Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. He referred to Ponniyin Selvan as his favourite book, Mahendran as his favourite director (apart from K Balachander) and Nepal as the place he would like to travel alone.

He, however, refused to mention the biggest insult he had suffered and the names of films that made him regret not being part of.