Internet reacts to Rajinikanth touching Yogi Adityanath's feet despite being older than him: 'This is shocking'
Rajinikanth faced backlash for touching UP CM Yogi Adityanath's feet in Lucknow. Meanwhile, the veteran actor's fans defended him for being respectful.
Actor Rajinikanth met Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath at his residence in Lucknow on Saturday. A video of Rajinikanth touching Yogi Adityanath's feet after greeting him has gone viral with a section of social media users calling their interaction 'shocking' and 'cringeworthy'. However, some are defending the veteran actor and supporting his action. Also read: Rajinikanth meets Akhilesh Yadav after 9 years, greets him with a hug
Video of Rajinikanth touching Yogi Adityanath's feet
Rajinikanth had arrived in the city on Friday for the screening of his film Jailer, which was attended by UP deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya. Photos and videos of Rajinikanth's interaction on Saturday with Yogi Adityanath were being widely shared on various social media platforms.
The actor, after getting off his car and greeting the UP CM with Namaste and touching his feet, gave him a flower bouquet and they both posed for photographers.
Reactions to Rajinikanth-Yogi Adityanath's video
"The biggest facepalm and cringefest video of the month," wrote a Twitter or X user. Another one wrote, "This man (Rajinikanth) is a shame to Tamil Nadu. Spirituality has never been about losing self respect!" A tweet also read, "What a fall!! 72-year-old Rajinikanth touching the feet of 51-year-old Yogi Adityanath..." A person also wrote, "This is shocking!"
A person reacted to a Reddit post about their interaction, “If he (Rajinikanth) was just an actor like other heroes, I wouldn't have cared much about that incident. But he is the face of south India. One of the very few celebrities that they can identify from us. Especially in Delhi, when I introduced myself as Tamilan, they said we love Rajinikanth, watch his Tamil films in Hindi etc. Many people don't even know there is a state named Tamil Nadu, but they know Rajinikanth. He should've maintained that respect. Even though people from north aren't going to find any fault in this. It's us, who are deeply disappointed.”
Defending the actor, a person wrote on Twitter or X, "Don't understand the hue and cry over superstar @rajinikanth touching the feet of @myogiadityanath. Apart from being a politician and chief minister of UP, Yogi ji is also an elevated Nath Yogi and the head of illustrious Gorakhnath Math. You bow to the lineage he represents!"
Another person wrote, "Amazing respect for culture shown by none other than Thalaiva. @rajinikanth ji took blessings of Mahant of Gorakhpur Math and honorable @CMOfficeUP Shri @myogiadityanath ji. Not because he is CM, but he bowed down to mathadhish and sanyasi (monk)."
Trade analyst Ramesh Bala also tweeted the video and wrote, "Here are the two opposing views... View 1: A large section of the People of TN (Tamil Nadu) are upset that superstar fell on the feet of UP CM... View 2: UP CM is Mahant of Ghoraknath Mutt.. So superstar fell on his feet for religious reasons... Your take?"
Rajinikanth meets Akhilesh Yadav
A day after a 'courtesy meeting' with Yogi Adityanath, Rajinikanth on Sunday met Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav at the latter's residence in Lucknow. Rajinikanth, who is basking in the success of his latest film Jailer, said he was happy to reconnect with ‘friend’ Akhilesh Yadav after almost a decade.
Akhilesh shared a series of photos from the meeting with Rajinikanth via his account on X, formerly called Twitter. He wrote along with their photos, “When hearts meet, people embrace. During my engineering studies in Mysore, the happiness I used to feel seeing Rajinikanth ji on the screen is still intact. We met in person 9 years back and have been friends ever since…”
