Southern superstar Rajnikanth, whose forthcoming "Chandramukhi" has his fans all excited, said the long gap that followed the 2002 release of "Baba" should not be mistaken as his weakness.

"I am not an elephant who finds it difficult to get up. I sprang up like a horse," said the star at the audio release of "Chandramukhi" here.

When the superstar in his usual white pyjama-kurta attire arrived at Hotel Connemara, where the event took place, his fans started chanting "superstar, superstar".

Hindi music diva Asha Bhosle was chief guest at the event, one of the biggest film functions to be held in Chennai in recent times with policemen guarding the venue.

The film is scheduled for an April 13 release, to coincide with the Tamil New Year's day.

The audio of "Chandramukhi" was released by Asha and around 250,000 cassettes were sold.

The girl who attracted the most attention at the gala was the young heroine of "Chandramukhi", Nayantara, who looked pretty in a bright red sari.

The real heroine of the film Jyothika was also present as was Sheila, who has a major role in the film.