3 minutes of readingHyderabadFebruary 8, 2026 07:58 pm IST
Radhika Sarathkumar recently shared fascinating anecdotes about her long association with Rajinikanthoffering rare glimpses into a lesser-known side of the superstar.
Recalling her first interaction with Rajinikanth, Radhika told Galatta Plus, “I remember I was with some friends and we had gone to New Woodlands; the drive-in was the hot place to hang out. Rajinikanth sir used to come there. He was a student having coffee or tea or something. They said, ‘Oh, you know, he’s popular. He’s done this.’ So I walked up to Rajinikanth and said, ‘Can you do that cigarette trick for me?’ And he did it for me.”
The twist? “He didn’t know who I was. I didn’t know who he was. But fate made us meet,” he added.
Radhika Sarathkumar also painted a vivid picture of her wild youthful days while filming films like Pokkiri Raja. “We used to have night shoots. At night, we used to race cars from AVM to our houses. Crazy!” she exclaimed.
But it was a bike ride Chennai that remains engraved in your memory. Radhika said, “He was on a bike and I was going to be with him. We were doing a photo shoot for a magazine cover. He took me all over Chennai on a bike and showed me places: ‘I used to sleep on this sidewalk, I used to do this.'” And I was so fascinated because I had never seen… I know a lot of people’s struggles, but with him I was like wow.”
The trip had an unexpected interruption. “We were turning from Mount Road onto Beach Road at the junction when a car sped up, braked hard next to us, gave us a dirty look and then turned around and drove away. Then I thought, ‘Who is this?’ He (Rajinikanth) was laughing. He said, ‘No, no, he’s my wife’s brother.’ You must be thinking…’ But we actually left her house, so Latha was there when we left. So when we came back, she was laughing. She said, ‘Oh, my brother called and said…’”
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What makes Radhika Sarathkumar’s perspective unique is that she witnessed Rajinikanth’s transformation from an emerging actor to a cultural phenomenon. Despite friendly banter and nicknames like Raji, Radhika deeply respects Rajinikanth’s stature today. “Of course, you have to respect who he has become today and what he represents,” he acknowledged.
Radhika and Rajinikanth’s friendship represents a bygone era of Tamil cinema: when stars sat under trees instead of in caravans, when they could run through city streets without safety concerns, and when genuine friendships were formed on set.
“We had the best films, we had great scripts, we had great songs, we had great co-stars and there was no caravan, so we were all sitting under the tree, chatting, being friends for life,” Radhika reflected wistfully.