"People listen to Rajni songs at least ten times more than other songs," says lyricist P Vijay.
This veteran who has been writing lyrics for Tamil movies for more than a decade now, says songs from Rajnikanth films are very popular.
Vijay has composed a song for the Tamil star's upcoming release Sivaji. The song is Oru Kudai and the lyricist wrote it keeping in mind the story, character and situation.
"When we are writing for Rajni, we know the song will become more popular because he is a mass hero. It is extra important because it will reach more people," he said.
Vijay's contribution for Rajni's first film Chandramukhi was Athindom. "Rajnikanth was there when the song was being composed and I can still remember what he told us..he said 'compose a song that everyone will like. The audience must like it. Keep that in mind,'"the lyricist recalled.
Vijay recollects that Rajni never interfered with the work. "He was very appreciative and never criticised. We were very happy that he had so much confidence in us. A star of his stature could have given us advice or some inputs. But he never did that. His confidence in us made us work better," he added.
Vijay recalled meeting Rajni once during a book release function and another time when his son wanted to meet the superstar. "Rajni's strength is his humility and simplicity. We should all learn how to be humble from him. He is such a big star and yet has no ego at all," he said.
It may be mentioned that Vijay got his first break in Tamil movies in 1996 when he wrote for K Bhagyaraj's Gnanapalam.
