When ‘Terminator’ came calling

Keeping the promise he made two years ago, he came back to India. “I'll be back!” Arnold Schwarznegger had said, quoting his most famous dialogue from the Terminator series, during his last trip to India in February 2012.

On a sultry Monday afternoon, the Secretariat, the seat of power in Tamil Nadu, was gripped with mild excitement. While most of the staff were confined to the desk or loitering in the corridors, those who knew that the ‘Terminator’ was visiting wanted a glimpse of Arnold Schwarzenegger, one of the biggest Hollywood stars.

Even before he got here, pictures of him arriving at Chennai and meeting local star Suriya quickly went viral on social media. Schwarznegger was here to launch the music of director Shankar’s latest venture I . The former Governor of California also stopped by to meet Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, who too comes from a film background.

As the large media contingent was stopped at the out gate of the main building at Fort St. George, some of the young staffers at work were looking for a way out. “Obviously, we want to see him in person,” said a personal assistant to one of the ministers. Positioned in front of windows on the south-eastern wing, they whipped out their mobile phones, hoping to snap a picture of the star as he stepped out of his SUV.

Schwarzenegger’s meeting with the Chief Minister was reportedly unscheduled. Ms. Jayalalithaa, who was to take the flight to Coimbatore for a campaign, delayed it a bit to accommodate the meeting with the Hollywood icon, sources said.

Arriving first, Mr. Schwarzenegger was to take the lift but was stonewalled by the waiting photographers and videographers. He seemed completely at ease with all the mobbing. Two middle-aged women, both Secretariat staff, who had positioned themselves at the gate, shrieked with delight. “Oh my god, how good looking is he!” exclaimed one.

As Mr. Schwarzenegger climbed up the stairs to the Chief Minister’s room, the excitement died down a bit. He came down twenty minutes later, ready to leave; but stopped short when he heard mediapersons calling for him, and walked back looking dapper in his grey suit, raising his hand in a salute.

Hugging T. Senthil Kumar, Deputy Commissioner, Flower Bazaar, who happened to be standing nearby, Mr. Schwarzenegger posed for pictures. He asked Mr. Kumar what he should say, and was told to greet the crowd with Vanakkam, the Tamil word for greeting someone.

“He wanted to, and tried to, but found he could not pronounce the word,” said Mr. Kumar.

In the evening, Mr. Schwarzenegger tweeted: “It was fantastic to sit down with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa before our event tonight and talk about her State’s success and challenges. That’s the advantage of being an actor who was also a Governor!!”

As the day came to an end with the music launch of I, it was time for the iconic actor to bid goodbye to the city. As he would say: “Hasta La Vista baby!”

(This article was first published in The Hindu print edition of September 16, 2014)

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