Amitabh praises Rajini’s daughter

IANS/MumbaiBollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan finds Kochadaiiyaan of Tamil superstar Rajinikanth as a mark of women empowerment “at its best.”Bachchan launched the Hindi trailer of the forthcoming Tamil period drama here on Sunday night, following which he took to his blog to sing the praises of Soundarya Ashwin, the southern matinee idol’s daughter and director of what is claimed to be the country’s first motion capture photo-realistic 3D animated movie.“Women Empowerment! At its best tonight as I inaugurate the latest Rajinikanth film directed by his daughter, Soundarya...a film made on the technology of Motion Picture Capture...truly amazing effort and a first for India.“A proud moment for society where a girl takes on the challenge of a technology for the first time in the country, and makes it happen. A daughter pays tribute to her haloed father, in an affection that transcends all the cynicism that society still throws up.“A father who entrusts his daughter with confidence and support to undertake this huge enterprise. Unlike some of the twisted norms being still practised in the country,” added the thespian, who is a United Nations ambassador for Girl Child.Soundarya, who is making her debut as a director, meanwhile said Kochadaiiyaan was an animation and not a cartoon.“Animation is not understood in India. Kochadaiiyaan is an animation but it’s not a cartoon. This project is dear to my heart as it’s our first attempt,” Soundarya said during the curtain raiser of the Hindi version of the film.The debutant director said it was her dream to see her father doing ‘tandav’ and the technology made that happen.Rajinikanth has also lent his voice for a song in the film, and Soundarya said it was not difficult to convince her father.