Rajnikanth is a renowned Indian film actor. Though he has particularly made his mark in Tamil cinema and has an enormous fan following in the Tamil state, he is by birth a Marathi. His real name is Shivaji Rao Gaikwad. The legendary actor was born on 12th December, 1949 in the state of Karnataka. His parents are Ramabai and Ramoji Rao Gaekwad. Latha is his wife and the couple has two daughters.

Rajinikanth studied at Acharya Paathshala in Bangalore . He lost his mom when he was five. Since an early age the family’s low income subjected the child to struggles. This made him practice stunts at a temple and work as a bus conductor. It was a fellow driver who helped Rajini join the Madras Film Institute in the year 1973. It was here that director K. Balachandar spotted the talent.

Rajini’s first break was a small role in a kannada film ‘Katha Sangama’. In 1975, Balachandar’s ‘Aboorva Ragangal’ was his first foray into Tamil cinema, but as a villain. The actor has acted in 6 Indian languages as well as in English. ‘Moondru Mudichu’ in 1976 got him widespread recognition. His first positive role was in the second half of ‘Bhuvana Oru Kelvikkuri’. Positive roles continued in ‘Mullam Malarum’ and ‘Arilirundhu Arubathu Varai,’ He played a goonda in films like ‘Pokkiri Raja’ and ‘Billa.’ He reached new heights with ‘Payum Puli,’ ‘Murattu Kaalai’ and ‘Moondru Mugam.’ His 100th film ‘Sri Raghavendra’ was different from the others.

The actor starred in action oriented movies in the eighties and then delivered blockbusters in the nineties. “Basha,’ ‘Padayappa’ and ‘Muthu’ can be cited as examples. Then ‘Chandramukhi’ and ‘Shivaji’ in Telugu broke all records. Other Rajini movies in Telugu are ‘Kathanayakudu,’ ‘Baba’ and ‘Narasimha.’ The superstar entered Bollywood with ‘Andha Kanoon’ alongside Mr. Bachhan and then starred in few others like ‘Chaalbaaz’, ‘Geraftaar’ and ‘Hum.’ ‘Bloodstone’ was his Hollywood debut.

The south Indian super star was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2000. Hi unique styles and dialogue utterances are profoundly appreciated. The superstar appreciates Sharukh’s role in ‘Chak De India.’ He also has a role to play in Tamil Nadu politics. He states meditation to be the reason for his energy and believes in the saying that a child, lunatic and a sage are the happiest people in the world. In Rajinikanth’s opinion, it is never too late to learn.

-Priyanka Das