It was one of the most awaited events of the 1996 Assembly election in Tamil Nadu. With just a week remaining to conclude the campaign, Rajinikanth was returning from the U.S. to Chennai on April 20, with an overnight stopover in Mumbai. He was expected to make a big statement.
I had just returned to my desk after witnessing the election campaign across Tamil Nadu for more than a week, touching several districts — a rare opportunity for a city-bound journalist. I was set to plunge back into work. Then came the assignment. Rajinikanth was to arrive in Chennai the next day. Rush to Mumbai by a late evening flight, and return with him, so we would have an exclusive story.
A ticket was purchased by the night flight, including the return leg that Rajinikanth would take, with the aviation correspondent tracking his movement. I prepared for a red-eye mission because the task involved many things: finding out where the actor would be staying between flights to ensure that nothing was…