In a landmark tribute to cinematic excellence, Hindustan Times and OTTplay joined forces to transform the newspaper’s iconic front page into “Rajinikanth Times,” celebrating the superstar’s 50-year legacy in partnership with Amazon Prime Video. At the centre of this innovation is OTTplay, India’s leading OTT aggregator, which enables fans to seamlessly rediscover Rajinikanth’s films across eras and platforms through a single AI-driven gateway.
In this conversation, Avinash Mudaliar, Co-founder & CEO of HT Labs and OTTplay, shares insights into the creative collaboration, the power of cross-platform storytelling, and how OTTplay is redefining content discovery for millions of entertainment consumers.
Q) What inspired OTTplay and Hindustan Times to dedicate the front page to the ‘Rajinikanth Times’ tribute — the first time in HT’s 100-year history that the entire front page has been devoted to a single individual?
Avinash Mudaliar: For a 100-year-old institution like Hindustan Times, moments like these are rare — and reserved only for those who truly shape culture. Rajinikanth completing 50 years in cinema is not just an industry milestone, it’s a national moment. Who better to deserve an entire front page than a legend who has defined generations of storytelling?
Millions grew up on his films. Entire families bonded over his style, his punchlines, his magic. Rajinikanth isn’t just an actor — he’s an emotion that travelled from theatres to living rooms to our lives. So dedicating the entire front page to him wasn’t a decision at all… it was instinct. It was love. It was a tribute long overdue.
And for OTTplay, which lives and breathes stories and the people who create them, celebrating Rajini felt like the most natural thing in the world. This was not about platforms or brands — it was about honouring a man whose legacy has shaped our culture for five decades, whose impact crosses languages and borders, and whose fandom is a phenomenon in itself.
‘Rajinikanth Times’ was simply our way of saying: Thank you, Thalaivar, for 50 years of unforgettable magic.
Q) How significant is this historic HT front-page transformation for OTTplay, and how do you balance editorial storytelling with brand collaboration to celebrate legacy and fandom?
Avinash Mudaliar: For us at OTTplay, this moment is incredibly significant because it isn’t just a campaign — it’s history. In 100 years, the Hindustan Times masthead has never been transformed for an individual. The fact that this change happened for the first time ever, and for Rajinikanth, makes it a cultural milestone we’re proud to be part of.
The idea was to create a narrative. A narrative that honours a legend, respects the editorial sanctity of a national newspaper, and still creates a moment of collective fandom. Our role was to support and amplify that storytelling without compromising authenticity.
At OTTplay, we work at the intersection of entertainment and discovery, and that gives us a responsibility to celebrate legacies responsibly. This tribute blended editorial integrity and fan emotion seamlessly — and that’s what made the front page feel like a heartfelt cultural celebration.
Q) What makes him the ideal figure for a tribute of this scale and innovation?
Avinash Mudaliar: As a fan, it’s easy to celebrate the Rajinikanth of Baashha, Muthu, Sivaji, Enthiran, Kabali, and Jailer. But his legend was shaped much earlier — in the simmering tension of Moondru Mudichu, the unforgettable Parattai of 16 Vayathinile, the emotional weight of Mullum Malarum, the tenderness of Aarilirunthu Arubathu Varai, and the mass wave created by Murattu Kaalai and Billa. These weren’t just films; they were cultural moments that changed everything.
What makes him worthy of a tribute this large is that he is so much more than the style and swagger the world recognises. Those who truly love him admire his humility, modesty, quiet discipline — the grace with which he carries unimaginable fame. His journey from a bus conductor to a national icon is the kind of arc that becomes part of our collective memory.
Across five decades and 171 films, he has shown every dimension an artiste can — raw intensity, emotional depth, unmatched mass presence, and a global charisma that somehow still feels personal. He can turn an entry into a celebration, a gesture into an emotion, and a dialogue into something people never forget.
There’s the Rajini who lights up the screen, and the Rajini whose every move is iconic — the flick of his hair, the effortless hand movements, the cigarette lit on a moving Bullet — moments that have become cinema folklore. His appeal spans generations: grandparents nostalgic for the classics, parents shaped by the mass-hero era, and Gen Z discovering him through memes and streaming.
He is celebrated as a star, but he is far more than that — a phenomenon admired across the world yet grounded and devoted to his craft. Rajinikanth isn’t just an actor; he’s culture, legacy, heritage. And when someone completes 50 years of shaping how a nation feels and remembers cinema, the only fitting response is a tribute that reflects the greatness of the man and the love of the millions who revere him.
Q) How is OTTplay leveraging its 30+ OTT partnerships to make Rajinikanth’s multi-era filmography easily accessible?
Avinash Mudaliar: One of OTTplay’s biggest strengths is our 30+ OTT partnerships, and Rajinikanth’s filmography is a perfect example of why that matters. His legacy is spread across platforms — from iconic titles such as Muthu, Sivaji and Jailer on Amazon Prime Video, to mass entertainers like Petta and Kabali on Sun NXT, classics and action blockbusters on JioHotstar or family favourites on Z5. Normally, a fan would have to jump across apps to piece that journey together.
Rajinikanth’s journey spans every era, every genre, every mood — and it lives across multiple OTT platforms. All we’re doing is making it easy for fans to find every shade of him in one place. Whether someone loves the vintage classics, the mass-hero era, or the newer global blockbusters, OTTplay simply brings all Rajini recommendations together so every fan can watch their Rajini, their way.
Q) How did OTTplay integrate with Hindustan Times, digital platforms, and Fever FM for a unified cultural moment?
Avinash Mudaliar: We are one family — so there was never a question of “integration.” It was simply leadership across the Hindustan Times ecosystem coming together around a larger cultural purpose. One spark moved organically across HT Print, all HT digital and social platforms, OTTplay, and Fever FM’s 15 radio stations, each adding its own voice to the tribute.
Hindustan Times Print loved it instantly, and with a readership that deeply resonates with legacy and cinema, the front-page transformation became the emotional core of the moment. Across digital, the sentiment amplified at scale — with 240M+ unique monthly visitors discovering, sharing, and celebrating Thalaivar’s journey.
A special thanks to our partner Amazon Prime Video for collaborating with us on this remarkable initiative and bringing a wide variety of Rajinikanth content to fans — including the latest release, Coolie.
With fans engaging across platforms, the tribute travelled far beyond any single medium. Rajinikanth isn’t just an icon — he’s a national emotion, and that sentiment united every channel. Print led the moment, digital accelerated it, radio brought the fandom alive, and OTTplay powered it across screens through nostalgia-led stories, curated specials, and high-visibility moments.
Our editorial team has been on ground in Chennai capturing the city’s electric response — from auto drivers and students to lifelong fans and organised fan clubs who were emotional, proud, and visibly moved.
Celebrity tributes poured in too — from R. Madhavan, Priyamani, and Tovino Thomas to Soubin Shahir, Dhananjaya, Vedhika, DD Neelakandan, and Cibi Chakravarthy. Fever FM added its own layer of fan energy with special bytes from Tamil stars and Chennai’s most passionate Thalaivar loyalists.
In the end, it wasn’t synergy.
It was a shared heartbeat.
Q) What has been the audience reaction to the front-page takeover and cross-platform celebration, and how does OTTplay measure such cultural moments—what KPIs matter most for initiatives like this?
Avinash Mudaliar: The audience reaction has been phenomenal — and honestly, quite emotional. People woke up to the front page and were genuinely surprised and delighted. Social media was flooded with reactions, with fans posting photos of the newspaper, influencers on LinkedIn discussing it as a benchmark in cultural marketing, and Rajini followers across platforms celebrating the moment as something historic. On Twitter, our tribute hashtag trended at No. 2 nationally, and we saw thousands of organic posts across Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn applauding the creativity, the scale, and the respect shown to the legend.
From a measurement standpoint, cultural moments require a different KPI lens. We look at:
- Hashtag performance and trend rankings
- Engagement velocity on social — posts, shares, UGC, influencer mentions
- QR code scans from print, which showed exceptionally high interaction
- Search behaviour on OTTplay, where Rajini titles saw a major spike
- Traffic uplift, especially on content related to Rajinikanth
- Sentiment analysis, which was overwhelmingly positive
For us, this wasn’t just about numbers — it was about cultural resonance. And when the audience amplifies your idea on its own, across cities and platforms, you know the moment has truly landed.
Q) Will OTTplay explore similar large-scale cultural collaborations for other icons?
Avinash Mudaliar: Absolutely — because celebrating icons is part of who we are. When someone has shaped generations, created joy, inspired families, and become woven into our cultural memory, it feels natural for us to honour them in a big, heartfelt way.
The Rajinikanth tribute was a celebration we always knew would resonate deeply, because his impact is timeless and universal. His influence crosses states, languages, and decades; his films are family memories; his style and spirit are cultural inheritance. Paying homage to someone who has given India 50 years of joy was simply our way of giving back.
And just like this, we will continue creating large cultural celebrations for other legends across eras and industries. Our purpose is simple: to craft moments that make people feel connected, nostalgic, and proud of the icons who shaped their lives.
Q) You have mentioned: “Every generation finds its own Rajinikanth”— can you expand on this emotional permanence?
Avinash Mudaliar: When I say every generation finds its own Rajinikanth, I mean his presence isn’t tied to one era — it lives across time, mediums, and memories.
Boomers cherish him for his classics and powerful early performances. Millennials grew up on his unbeatable swagger, style, and mass-hero magic. Gen Z meets him through memes, reels, digital tributes, and streaming — yet somehow feels the same excitement their parents did.
Different people discover him in different ways: theatre whistles, TV reruns, YouTube edits, OTT playlists, radio nostalgia, or even that one iconic meme that pulls them into his world. But the emotional connection stays identical. That’s what emotional permanence looks like: not just longevity, but relevance across generations.
Q) Thalaivar Rajinikanth personally thanked you for this unprecedented tribute. What did that moment mean to you personally, and how did it feel to have the legend himself acknowledge OTTplay’s effort in celebrating his 50-year cinematic journey?
Avinash Mudaliar: That moment meant more to me than words can really express. I grew up seeing Rajinikanth — not just the superstar on screen, but the man behind the legend. Being from the same city he’s from, you don’t just admire him… you absorb him. His humility, his simplicity, his journey from a bus conductor to one of India’s greatest icons — it shapes you in ways you don’t even realise.
Like so many of us, I’ve repeated his dialogues, copied his style, celebrated his swagger — but what has always inspired me most is the person he is. The grace. The groundedness. The quiet strength.
So to have Thalaivar himself acknowledge the tribute… it felt surreal. It wasn’t about work, or roles, or responsibility. It was the fan in me — the child who grew up on his films, the person who found inspiration in his story — suddenly receiving a moment of recognition from the very man who shaped so much of our cultural memory.
And with 12 December marking his 75th birthday, the timing feels even more special. We can’t wait to create specials around this milestone — another reason to celebrate him, his legacy, and everything he means to millions of us.
It’s the kind of moment you hold close for life.
The vision behind this unprecedented tribute was shaped by Avinash Mudaliar, Co-founder & CEO of HT Labs and OTTplay, and Amit Gupta, Marketing Head at HT Labs and OTTplay. While the two led the conceptualisation and execution of the ‘Rajinikanth Times’ moment, Avinash was especially insistent that the real credit goes to the collective brilliance of the team whose creativity, passion, and collaboration turned a bold idea into a historic, cross-platform cultural celebration of Thalaivar.
