Archive: When Schwarzenegger and Rajinikanth Shared a Stage in Chennai
September 15, 2014: Arnold Schwarzenegger was chief guest at the audio launch of Shankar's 'I' in Chennai, sharing the dais with Rajinikanth.
Photo by PinkBeachPlanet, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
From the TI archives — originally published September 2014.
On September 15, 2014, Chennai's Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium hosted one of Indian cinema's most unlikely pairings: the Terminator and the Superstar on the same stage.
Arnold Schwarzenegger was the chief guest at the audio launch of I, director Shankar's Tamil romantic thriller starring Vikram, with Amy Jackson, Suresh Gopi, and Upen Patel in key roles. Rajinikanth shared the dais with him — the man who had defined Tamil screen stardom for four decades welcoming the man who had defined Hollywood action.
A.R. Rahman performed the album's songs live, with dancers in the film's actual costumes and makeup, in a show that ran about two and a half hours. The night made international headlines: two of cinema's biggest screen-presence legends, together, for a film not yet released.
I eventually released on January 14, 2015 (Pongal) — delayed from its planned Diwali 2014 slot — and went on to become one of Tamil cinema's highest grossers that year.
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