Today is the birthday of Superstar Rajinikanth. Rajinikanth is one of the biggest superstars of Indian cinema and after almost 4 decades, Rajinikanth’s magic still hasn’t faded.
He was born on December 12, 1950, in a Maratha family in Karnataka. He turns 67 today. Starting out as a bus conductor and growing to become one of the highest paid film stars, Rajinikanth’s journey is a source of inspiration. His on-screen persona, larger-than-life portrayal of characters and off-screen simplicity has earned him fans across the world. On Rajinikanth birthday, we bring you some of the lesser known and interesting facts about the Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan awardee:
1. The real name of Rajinikanth is Shivaji Rao Gaekwad. He was brought up speaking Marathi and Kannada.
2. Before entering the film industry, Rajinikanth used to work as a coolie, carpenter and a bus conductor.
3. Rajinikanth pursued a diploma in acting from Madras Film Institute and also learnt Tamil during his course.
4. Latha Rangachari, Rajinikanth’s wife is 8 years younger than him. The two met when Latha came to interview him for her college magazine. They got married in 1981. Latha runs a Chennai-based school called ‘The Ashram’ now and the couple has two daughters Aishwarya and Soundarya.
5. In the first two years of Rajinikanth’s career, he got only negative roles to play – of an abusive husband, a rapist, a womaniser, a pornographer, an adulterer etc, but it was in 1977 when he first got to enact in a positive role in the movie Bhuvana Oru Kelvikkuri.
6. Rajinikanth has starred in eleven Tamil remakes of Amitabh Bachchan films like Deewar, Amar Akbar Anthony, Laawaris and Don among others.
7. For his blockbuster movie Shivaji, Rajinikanth received an acting fee of Rs. 26 crore in 2007. This made him the second highest paid actor in Asia after Jackie Chan.
8. His elder daughter Aishwarya is married to actor Dhanush. His younger daughter Soundarya is married to industrialist Ashwin Ramkumar.
9. Rajinikanth commands a huge fan following. On Twitter alone, the superstar has 4.38 million worldwide followers as of December 12, 2017.
10. Rajinikanth is a follower of Hinduism and a strong believer of spirituality. He practices yoga and meditation.
11. He acted in several mythological Kannada plays before he became an actor. His favorite role was that of Duryodhana.
12. Starting off as a villain, Rajinikanth’s first role as a protagonist was in Bhuvana Oru Kelvikuri (1977). Directed by SP Muthuraman, who’s known for his frequent collaboration with Thalaivar, the film was a blockbuster at the box office.
13. K Balachander was the one who predicted Rajinikanth’s superstardom. He said in an interview, “In my forthcoming movie, I’m going to introduce a young man who has a fire in his eyes. Just mark my words. He is going to become a phenomenon one day.”
14. Though J Mahendran’s Mullum Malarum (1978) gave Rajinikanth the much-needed breakthrough, it was Billa (1980), a remake of the Hindi hit Don, that gave Rajinikanth his first commercial success.
15. Rajinikanth’s Nallavanuku Nallavan (1984) won him the first and only Filmfare award for the Best Actor. However, Rajinikanth refused to accept the award citing that actor Murali deserved it for Poo Vilangu.
16. In 16 Vayathinile (1977), a scene required actor Sridevi to spit on Rajini’s face. When she couldn’t get it right, Rajinikanth asked the actress to spit on his face for real.
17. Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan have acted together in 11 films. It was Haasan who advised Rajini to carve a niche for himself. Their last film together in Tamil was Alavudinum Arputha Vilakkum (1979).
18. Rajinikanth’s Mullum Malarum faced a lot of flak from the producer. Haasan’s timely assistance helped the film’s release, and the rest is history.
19. Rajinikanth wrote the screenplays for Valli (1993) and Baba (2002). Both films fell flat at the box office.
20. He played a guest role in the 1998 English film bloodstone.
21. Indian superstars Amitabh Bachchan, Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan acted together in Geraftaar (1985).
22. Rajinikanth’s gangster drama Baasha shattered the box-office records previously set by Haasan’s Aboorva Sagotharargal (1989).
23. Rajinikanth is a chain smoker and went through a kidney dialysis back in 2011.
24. Rajinikanth’s fanbase was stretched to Japan after his Muthu (1999) was released.
25. According to reports, Rajinikanth is the highest paid actor in India and the second highest in Asia. After the success of his film Sivaji, that released in the year 2007, Rajinikanth’s fee was as high as Rs 26 Crore. He became the second-highest paid Asian actor after Jackie Chan.
During the superstar’s birthday, his fan associations organise eye donation and blood donation camps regularly.
Happy Birthday, Rajinikanth!
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