Early Life

Rajinikanth was born in a Marathi family in Karnataka, India. He was the fourth child to his parents, Jija bai and Ramoji Rao. His original name was Sivaji Rao Gaekwad. He lost his mother at the age of five. He had his schooling at the Acharya Patasala in Bengalooru (formerly Bangalore) and then at the Vivekananda Balak Sangh, a unit of the Ramakrishna Mission. His mother tongue is Marathi, although he has not acted in a Marathi film yet.

He began his career doing various jobs in Karnataka, while also attending a theatre for stage plays. Before starting his career in the film industry, he served as a bus conductor for the state transport corporation in Bangalore. It was during this time that he nurtured his acting interests by performing in various stage plays.

Personal

Rajinikanth married Latha on February 26, 1981, at Tirupathi and they have two children: Aishwarya and Soundarya. Latha is currently the principal of a school named - The Ashram. Aishwarya married actor Dhanush in 2005 and they have a 6 month old son, Yathra.

Acting Career

He joined the Madras Film institute in 1973 with the help of a friend and completed basic acting course. He started his acting career with the Kannada movie Kathaa Sangama, directed by Puttanna Kanagal, in 1975.

1975-1979

In Tamil cinema he was initially cast in supporting roles, with his first being that of a cancer patient in Apoorva Raagangal (1975), directed by K. Balachander. It was Balachander who assigned him his stage name Rajinikanth. Though Rajinikanth persistently refers to K. Balachander as his "guru" or mentor, it was director S. P. Muthuraman who actually revamped Rajinikanth’s image entirely. Muthuraman first experimented with him in a positive role in Bhuvana Oru Kelvikkuri (1977), as a villain in the first half and a do-gooder in the second, accepting a woman with a child ditched by her lover.Around this time Mullum Malarum (1978), directed by J. Mahendran, established Rajinikanth on the Tamil film arena. The success of Bhuvana Oru Kelvikkuri prompted Muthuraman to make a mushy melodrama with Rajinikanth as a hero sacrificing everything for his siblings in Aarilirunthu Arubathu Varai (1979). Even while the film was in the making, Rajinikanth had misgivings about whether the audience would accept him in tear jerkers of this kind. But its box-office success made Rajinikanth popular among women audience. These films were the turning points in Rajinikanth’s career — he changed from an actor who merely enthralled the audiences, to one who could also make them weep. The acceptance of Rajinikanth sans his mannerisms proved he had at last become an "actor" from a "star."

His film roles were mainly as a villain during the period 1975 to 1977, usually with Kamal Hassan as the hero, in movies like 16 Vayadhinilae and Avargal (both 1977).

1980-1989

The next phase of his career started with Billa, a remake of the Amitabh Bachchan starer Don. With its success he was accepted as a full-fledged hero. Billa was followed by a row of hits like Pokkiri Raja, Thanikattu Raja, Naan Mahaan Alla and Moondru Mugam. Even two decades after its release, the last continues to be a box-office draw. K. Balachander’s first home production, Netrikan proved to be yet another milestone in Rajini’s career. Rajinikanth's reputation continued to solidify in the 80's primarily due to movies remade from Amitabh Bachchan's Bollywood hits. Amitabh hits such as Khud-Daar, Namak Halaal, Lawaaris, Trishul, and Kasme Vaade, were remade into hit Rajinikanth starrers Padikkadavan, Velaikaran, Panakkaran, Mr. Bharath, and Dharmathin Thalaivan, respectively. He even acted as himself alongside Meena, who was a child actor then, in the movie Anbulla Rajinikanth (1984) In his 100th movie, Sri Raghavendra, he played the Hindu saint Raghavendra Swami.

1990-Present

Unlike the eighties, several movies of his during the nineties were successful, like Muthu and Baashha. Rajinikanth wrote his first screenplay for the film Valli (1993), and said to the media that it would be his last film (but it was not the case as he acted again). His film Muthu was the first Tamil film to be dubbed in Japanese as Muthu: The Dancing Maharajah and become very popular in Japan. At 53, his Baba released amid fanfare. Although the film grossed enough to cover its budget, it was viewed as a miserable showing and fell short of market expectations accumulating heavy losses for the distributors. Rajinikanth himself repayed the losses incurred by the distributors who had immense faith in him. His next film, Sivaji: The Boss, directed by S. Shankar is scheduled to be released on June 15, 2007.

Other Work

Apart from Tamil, Rajinikanth has acted in over 160 movies, including Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Hindi and Bengali. Rajinikanth made a foray into Bollywood with Andha Kanoon. But Rajinikanth could not concentrate on Hindi films because he was already safely ensconced down south. He still made a few films in Hindi, like Chaalbaaz with Sridevi. Rajinikanth also enjoys a special kind of popularity in Telugu cinema. He also had a brief stint in Hollywood with the movie Bloodstone in 1988.

Awards and Honours

Rajinikanth was rated as one of the most influential persons in South Asia by Asiaweek. He has won the Filmfare Best Actor award and many awards during his career for his acting.

In the years between 1977 and 1999 Rajinikanth has received awards from many organizations, like Cinema Express, Filmfans Association, Filmfare etc., for his on-screen performances and off-screen abilities in writing and producing. He has received awards in the Best Actor category for his performance in the films Padayappa, Peddarayudu, Basha, Muthu, Annamalai, Thalapathy, Velaikaran, Sri Raghavendra, Nallavanuku Nallavan, Moondru Mugam, Enkeyo Ketta Kural, Aarilirunthu Arubathu Varai, Mullum Malarum and 16 Vayathinile. He received award for Best Actor in Supporting Role for Bhuvana Oru Kelvi Kuri. He has also received awards in Best Story Writer and Best Producer categories for Valli.

He has also received other honours such as Raj Kapoor Award (2007) from the Government of Maharastra, Padma Bhushan (2000) from Government of India, Kalaichelvam Award (1995) from the Nadigar Sangam, Oshobismit Award (1995) for Spirituality from Rajinish Ashram, MGR Award (1989) and Kalaimamani Award (1984) from the Government of Tamilnadu.

Punch Dialogues

Rajinikanth's films are known for their "punch" dialogues. These are rhyming lines of dialogue delivered by the Rajinikanth to indirectly express his principles or position on political issues. Tamil magazines sometimes conduct competitions to predict possible punch dialogues for his forthcoming films. These dialogues are repeated many times in his movies and most of these have significance to the political situation at the time of release of relevant movies. Listed below are some notable.

"Punch" Dialogues:

Moondru Mugam (1982)

Ekambaram: "Ekambaramnu sonna vayithula irukura kozhandhai kooda vaaya moodum." - "Say the name 'Ekambaram' and even an unborn child will shut its mouth and hush up."

Alex Pandian : "Adhe kozhandhai kitta Alex Pandiyannu sonna, innoru kaiyale avanga amma vaayayum moodum!" - "Well, if you say the name 'Alex Pandian' to that same unborn child, it will even close its mother's mouth with its other hand!"

Annamalai (1992)

"Naan solrathaiyum seiven, sollathathiyum seiven." - "I will do what I say, I will also do what I don't say."

Basha (1995)

"Naan oru dhadavai sonna nooru dhadavai sonna madhiri." - "If i say it once, I've said it a hundred times."

Muthu (1995)

"Naan eppa varuven, eppadi varuvennu yarukkum theriyadhu, aana varavendiya neratthil correct-aga varuven."- "When I will arrive, or how I will arrive, nobody will know, but I will arrive when I ought to."

Arunachalam(1997)

"Andavan solran. Arunachalam seiran." - "God tells, Arunachalam does."

Padayappa (1999)

"En vazhi – thani vazhi." - "My way is a unique way."

Baba (2002)

"Khatham, gatham." - "The past is past."

Trivia

He had sung a song in the film Mannan (Adikkuthu Kuliru). Rajinikanth has the most diverse fan base in South India.

Bio-Data

Real Name : Shivaji Rao Gaikwad
Date of Birth : 12.12.1950
Time of Birth : 11:54 P.M.
Place of Birth : Bangalore
Star/Rasi : Sirvana/Magaram
Color : Black
Name of Spouse : Mrs. Latha Rajinikanth, Principal, The Ashram
Date of Marriage : 26.02.1981
Names of Children : Aishwarya & Sowandarya
Address : 18, Raghava Veera Avenue, Poes Garden, Chennai-86
Father's Name : Ramoji Rao
Mother's Name : Rambhai
Brother's Name : Sathya Narayana Rao & Nageshwara Rao
Guru : K.Balachandar
Spiritual Guru : Satchithananda Swamiji
Favourite God : Shri Raghavendra
Favourite Books : Books written by Shri Ramana Maharishi
Favourite City : Chennai
Favourite Colour : Black
Favourite Drinks : Juice & Curd
Favourite Foods : Chicken & Mutton items
Happiest Moments : To be alone
Worst Moments : Left the job of Conductor
Favourite Dress : White Kurtha
Favourite Place : Himalaya
Favourite Proverb : Beware of Everything -that is un true; stick to the Truth shall succeed slowly but steadily
Favourite work : Self-driving
Favourite Poet : Kannadasan
Favourite Musician : Illayaraja
Unforgettable Man : K.Balachandar
Unforgettable Function : Bassha Silver Jubilee Function
Unforgettable Friend : Sri Priya
First Film : Aboorva Ragangal
50th Film : Tiger (Telugu)
100th Film : Shri Raghavendrar
125th Film : Rajathi Raja
150th Film : Padyappa
Favourite Hollywood Actor : Sylvester Stallone
Favourite Indian Actor : Kamalhaasan
Favourite Actress : Rekha (Hindi)
Favourite Songs : Songs sung by Chandrababu
Favourite Film : Veera Kesari (Kannada)
Most Valuable Item : Appreciation Letter from K.Balachander for the film "Mullum Malarum"
Message to Fan : Live & Let Live
About Rajinikanth : I live for myself ; I don't care anybody but I respect everybody