“But Rajini sir, I am 53 years old,” Tom Cruise cried. “It really is mission impossible from this point on.”
“Naansense,” the superstar retorted. “Kanna, nothing is impossible. Not even the word impossible.”
Mrs Rajinikant walked in with some mixture and murku. “Thanks, aunty,” Tom said, as he slurped the residual layer of his filter coffee. If Cruise was awed to be inside the superstar’s posh Poes Garden residence, he was trying his best not show it.
“I am not you, Rajni sir. Sure, I have a loyal chick following but they are very demanding. A lot of effort goes into pulling off the 50 going on 20 look for them. And it’s getting tougher to enact those running as though my pants are on fire scenes,” the Hollywood celebrity remonstrated to his idol.
“Kanna, it is not about the looks and stunts but about the attitude. Once your attitude is right, anything is possible. In fact, in Robot II where I will be romancing Deepika, I won’t even bother sporting a wig,” the superstar revealed, running his hand over his bald plate.
“So you are saying I need to be myself?”
“Yes, kanna. Your genuine fans want to see you, not Ethan Hunt. Quit that silly diet you are on, lose the hair threading, go easy on the botox. Then why just Mission Impossible 6, kanna, you will go on to do Mission Impossible 7, 8, 9 and 10 as well. The key is to be yourself.”
“I am not sure, Rajini sir. I am not you and the fact that my romantic lead will be young enough to be my grand-daughter…”
The phone rang. “Just a minute, kanna,” Rajini said, answering the call. “What? Sonam Kapoor as my romantic lead in Robot III? Naah, that will be coming out in 2020 and she’ll be too old then…Oh, I see, you meant Sonam Kapoor as my mother. I’m cool with that.”
“Where were we, pa?” Rajini resumed the conversation.
But Tom Cruise was ready to take leave, the self doubt replaced by self-confidence, tightened jaws in place of furrowed brows. The Top Gun star sported his aviator jacket, put on his shades, dialled his co-producer and said, “Ethan Hunt reporting for Mission Impossible 6.”