Rajinikanth

Rajinikanth is the most popular actor of South Indian film industry. He is often termed as "Superstar" or "Thalaivar" (meaning leader in Tamil). Even he is worshiped as God by some of his ardent fans. His popularity made him work in number of Indian regional languages - Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Hindi, Malayalam and also in English. He was born as "Shivaji Rao Gaikwad" in Maharashtrian family to the parents Ranoji Rao Gaikwad and Ramabai, residing in Karnataka. He had traveled a long way, from being charismatic bus-conductor to an immensely popular actor.

In his early days, Rajinikanth has done many odd jobs like a carpenter, an office-boy, a coolie and then bus conductor in Bangalore Transport Service (BTS). While, working in BTS, he met driver Raja Badhar, who directed him towards the theater. There, he honed his skills as an actor by acting in number of plays. He even amused his passengers with his style of giving ticket and returning the change.

In 1973, he joined Madras Film Institute and the Vice-Principal of the institute A. Prabhakaran assisted him in launching his acting career. He debuted with supporting role in K. Balchander's 'Apoorva Raagangal'. Same year, he acted in his first Kannada movie, 'Katha Sangama'. In the period of 1975 to 1977, he mainly played a villain, with Kamal Haasan being the hero in the movies. His movies like 'Bhuvana Oru Kelvikkuri' (1977) and 'Mullum Malarum' (1978), established his arena in Tamil movies. Then, Rajni took a break from acting.

He marked his return with the dazzling performance in 'Billa', which was later remaked as Bollywood movie, 'Don' (1978). He reached another milestone with the movies like 'Murattukaalai', 'Pokkiri Raja', 'Thanikattu Raja', 'Naan Mahaan Alla', 'Pudukavithai', 'Moondru Mugam' and 'Netrikan'.

Rajinikanth made his Bollywood debut in the year 1983, 'Andhaa Kaanoon'. Later, he was seen in 'Chaalbaaz', opposite Bollywood beauty Sridevi. 'Uttar Dakshin', 'Geraftaar' and 'Hum' being the other films done by this versatile actor.

In 1988, he debuted in Hollywood with 'Bloodstone', but it didn't made much impact as he had in South film industry. But his film 'Muthu: The Dancing Maharajah' was dubbed in Japanese language, went viral in Japan.

Rajinikanth has acted in more than 150 films yet. His recent films, being 'Sivaji: The Boss', 'Endhiran' and 'Rana'. His upcoming film, 'Kochadaiyaan', opposite Deepika Padukone, is said to take Indian cinema to the next level with its superficial visual effects. The film is supposed to release in seven different languages.

Rajinikanth is the Indian actor, who has one of the largest fan-following across the world. And he has made it large by coming from a lower income group background and finally being a "Superstar" through his sheer hard work and determination. He is even awarded with prestigious 'Padma Bhushan' award in the year 2000, along with several other awards in film fraternity. Rajinikanth is also well-known for actively participating in charity functions.

Rajinikanth is married to Latha Rangachari on 26 February 1981, at the age of 31 years in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh. The couple has two daughters, Aishwarya Rajinikanth and Soundarya Rajinikanth. His elder daughter Aishwarya is married to the popular Southern actor Dhanush and younger daughter, Soundarya is working in the film industry as a producer, director and graphic designer. Rajinikanth's son-in-law Dhanush recently debuted in Hindi cinema with the super hit film 'Raanjhanaa' alongside Sonam Kapoor.