A recent column by Sudesh Rajaram in the POST has ignited a captivating discussion. Titled, “Is Amitabh Bachchan the greatest superstar India has ever seen?” has spurred a variety of opinions on our Facebook page, POST newspaper, with readers debating the merits of Bollywood's venerable figure, Bachchan, against the talents of South Indian cinema's colossus, Rajinikanth. Aman Singh Maharaj, a civil engineer, economist and author, reflects on the lively comments beneath Rajaram’s piece. He penned the following sentiment.
It feels almost poetic, yet puzzling, that more than 160 years on, faint lines of division still ripple between North and South, even in something as universal as art.
The column poses the question: is Amitabh Bachchan the greatest superstar India has ever seen? Well, statistically, he was voted actor of the millennium, was he not? The rest is subjective, his acting skills, that unmistakable baritone voice, his singing, swagger, looks, charm, dancing, on-screen presence, and yes, I would still add height.
These are things we feel as much as we measure. But if you trudge through the comments beneath that column, you will notice something telling. There, quietly but clearly, surnames become signals, and a pattern emerges. A number of Southerners proclaim that the mantle belongs instead to Rajinikanth, while Northerners, more often than not, stand firmly with Amitabh.
And here comes the clincher. A little bit of searching reveals that Rajinikanth is not, by ancestry, a neat emblem of either North or South. He is Marathi by heritage, born Shivaji Rao Gaekwad, with ancestral roots in Maharashtra. Yet Tamil cinema embraced him, Tamil audiences made him a phenomenon, and India turned him into a legend.
As if to remind us, greatness does not carry a compass. We really do need to move beyond this “apnawallah” divide, not only in how we judge talent, but in how we see one another. Even within subjective opinions, there is room for thoughtful, almost clinical reflection.
Take music, for instance. If asked who the greatest composer is, my answer arrives without hesitation: AR Rahman. I am a Northerner, Rahman is a Southerner, and today he is a Muslim, I am a Hindu. And yet none of that weighs against what truly matters.
His brilliance speaks for itself. His creativity, his range, his voice, his innovation, all of it rises above labels. Much as I admire the timeless genius of the Burmans, Naushad Ali, Laxmikant – Pyarelal, and so many others, it is Rahman who has captured fusion at its deepest core. His soundscapes are rich and layered, his use of technology is fearless, his music carries a global yet deeply spiritual resonance, and his versatility stretches across genres with effortless grace.
Perhaps that is what art has always been trying to tell us, gently and persistently, that talent does not belong to a region, that beauty cannot be divided, and that admiration need not be filtered through identity. So maybe the question is not who belongs where. Maybe it is simply this, can’t we all just get along?
Aman Singh Maharaj
Image: Supplied
Aman Singh Maharaj is a civil engineer, economist and author.