Padma Bhusan RajiniKanth alias
Sivaji Rao Gaekwad, the Real Magic Spell of Tamil Nadu was born on 12th December 1950 in Bangalore. He is the Fourth child of Mr. Ramaji Rao and Mrs. Rambhai couple. He has two brothers Sathya Narayana Rao, Nageswara Rao, and a sister Shrimathi Aswathamma. His father was a police constable and his mother died when he was four. Brought up in a middle class life, his earlier schooling was in Acharya Patasala but later discontinued his P.U.C from Rama Krishna Mission, Bangalore. The South Indian supreme initially did little carpentry, coolie, and conductor job. His dreams towards the celluloid world was encouraged and supported by his close friend Raj Bhadur. With his support, he completed Diploma in acting (D.F.T) course in Film Institute, Chennai during 1974.
K. Balachander, the director who has an uncanny knack of creating stars, first met Rajnikant at the film institute, where he was a student. It was
K.Balachander, who changed his name to Rajinikanth. He glanced at the dark young man and crisply asked him to meet him in his office the next day. Thus was this dark lanky young man’s entry to the Tamil film Industry. Dressed in rags, smoking a beedi, terminally ill disease writ large on his face; an undoubtedly inauspicious start to any debutante’s first screen appearance, especially in the maiden frame. The film was
Apoorva Raagangal in 1975. The film itself was thick in controversy, and nobody took notice of the young newcomer, who was on screen barely for fifteen minutes, muttered a few apologetic words to the wronged woman and ultimately died an unsung, heroic death. The following year he made his debut Kannada film
Katha Sangamma, which established him as a full fledged actor.
Producers went all out to capitalize on this new wonder called Rajnikant, and a string of films projecting him as an anti-hero, with all his stylish mannerisms in full swing, were released in quick succession.
He made his debut Telugu film
Anthuleni Katha in 1976. The movie that fetched him a wide recognition was
Moondru Mudichu in 1976 where he played the role of a cruel womanizer. He followed it up with movies like
16 Vayadhinile,
Avargal, etc.
Gayathri had him shooting blue films of his wife without her knowledge, He, became an indisputable star in his own right, a force to reckon with. He made his debut Malayalam film
Allauddinum Albhutha Vilakkum in 1979. Rajini with a big mustache was a big attraction in the film
Thappu Thalangal. The film was received well critically, with people appreciating the acting of him. “
Ennada Polladha Vazhkai…\" song became a rage that time, with radio playing the song very frequently. His acting in the climax scene was a revelation and Tamil cinema had not seen such type of emotions from any actor for an action packed emotional climax. He displayed a mixture of loud laughter, cries, anger, anguish, disgust, disappointment, all in one shot in that scene. His first Solo Hero Movie and the film which also gave him the Title Superstar is
Bairavi in 1978
In film
Billa, he exhibited a mind blowing performance as an underworld don. His subsequent film
Pokiri Raja saw him playing stylish action role while
Murattu Kalai,
Payum Puli and
Moondru Mugam took him to dizzy heights as an action hero.
Director S.P.Muthuraman first experimented with him in a positive role in
Bhuvana Oru Kelvikkuri, as a villain in the first half and a refined man in the second, accepting a woman with a child ditched by her lover. The success of
Bhuvana Oru Kelvikkuri prompted S.P.Muthuraman to make a mushy melodrama with him as a hero sacrificing everything for his siblings, a role ideally tailor made for
Sivaji Ganesan. The film was
Arulirunthu Arupathu Varai, in which his mannerisms were totally missing and he even appeared as an old man in the last few frames. His film
Mullum Malarum, through director Mahendran, established him as a hero with a slight tinge of the negative shade. The all-important film
Moondru Mugham, in which he essayed a triple role, is one of the memorable roles portrayed by him. Even two decades after its release, it continues to be a box-office draw and his fans can never get tired of his verbal clash with villain Senthamarai.
K. Balachander’s first home production,
Nettrikkan proved to be yet another milestone in his career. He acted with the thespian
Sivaji Ganesan in films
Justice Gopinath,
Viduthalai,
Padayyappa, etc.In the early 80s, he made a foray into Bollywood Film Industry with Andhaa Kanoon, a super hit film. But he could not concentrate on Hindi films because he was already safely ensconced down South. He still made a few films in Hindi, to mention specially Chaalbaaz which had Sridevi in a dual role. His notable Hindi films include Zulm Ki Zanjeer, Meri Adalat, Insaaf Kaun Karega, Bhooka Sher, Wafadaar, Geraftaar, Ek Saudagaar, Bewafaai, Uttar Dakshin, Tamacha, etc.
He acted in some of the remake films of actor Amitabh Bachchan including Billa - Don, Ram Robert Rahim - Amar Akbar Antony,
Thee –
Diwar,
Naan Vazavaipen –
Majboor,
Padikkathavan –
Khuddar,
Mr. Bharath –
Trisool,
Maaveeran –
Mard,
Siva -
Khoon Pasina,
Velaikkaran -
Namak Halal,
Panakkaran –
Laawaris,
Badsha -
Outline of HUM,
Dharmathin Thalivan -
Kasme Vaade, etc.
He made his debut Bengali film -
Baghya Devatha in the early 80’s. He was also good at comedy as can be seen in the film
Thillu Mullu in 1981, where he displayed excellent hilarious moments with veteran actor
Thengai Seenivaasan. His antics both with and without Mustache was well appreciated by the audience. But the most unique among his movies was
Sri Raghavendra\\ in 1985, his 100th film which was a biographical portrait of Hindu saint Raghavendra Swami. Some of the best dramatic movies of him are
Pudhu Kavithai and
Aarulirundhu Arubadhuvarai. In
Pudhukavithai, he depicts as a person who has lost his lady love and roams as a drunkard. His subtle expressions rated him as one of the top stars Indian Cinema.
The year 1987 was a golden year for him. He acted in three hit films
Velaikaran,
Oorkavalan and
Manithan. All the films managed to surpass more than 100 days. Out of these films,
Manithan did extraordinary business and it is one of the biggest super hit movies in his carrier. He gave us the Breezy entertainer
Thambikku Entha Ooru which exhibited his capability to handle comedy and action with ease. Like actor
Amitabh Bachchan he is popular for his drunken soliloquies, he is famous for his comic encounters with snakes, repeated umpteen times in films like
Thambikku Entha Ooru,
Annamalai, etc. The late 80’s saw him doing more and more action oriented family entertainers like
Velaikkaran,
Manidhan,
Dharmathin Thalaivan, etc. He also enjoys a special kind of popularity in Telugu films and his
Peddarayudu (remake of Tamil hit film
Nattammai) seems to have broken all previous records.
The Telugu version of
Padayappa has been a money-spinner, too. As an actor, his greatest asset, apart from his style is his sense of humor and comic timing. In the early 90’s, he gave an excellent performance as the henchman to actor
Mammootty in the Mega hit film
Thalapathy. His movies made in the 90’s became mass blockbusters. Some of these include
Annamalai,
Baadsha,
Padayappa, etc. These movies also had a tinge of politics. His blockbuster
Chandramuki broke all the box office records of the movies ever made in any Indian film industry. It was made after his previous movie Baba 2002, which was not so successful. His mega hit film
Shivaji – The Boss, created a huge mass all over the world. He is popular for his flamboyant dialogue delivery and characteristic mannerisms. His movies have been mass entertainers. His movies invariably has a \'good win over evil\' theme with entertaining action sequences, catchy songs and good natured humor, which makes his films liked by people of all age groups and all walks of life.
His unique style is characterized by a trademark gesture - flipping a cigarette in the air and catching it in his mouth; and rotating his glasses a number of times. An analysis of his career graph shows a remarkable absence of fits and starts. It has been a slow and steady rise to the very top. As he sings in the hit song “
Ikkada Raa Raa Raamaiya…” from the film
Baadsha, a man’s life may be divided into eight divisions. His own career can be divided into three segments. first as a Ruthless Villain, the second as a Hero with negative traits, and the third and present phase, as the reigning czar of Tamil filmdom. He has acted in over 170 films including movies in Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Hindi and Bengali. He has also acted in the Hollywood movie Blood stone in 1988. He has acted along with notable actors like
Sivaji Ganesan,
Amitabh Bachchan,
Kamal Hassan,
Mammooty, etc. He is the unspoken king of Tamil cinema and commends huge fan following. This multifaceted artist is a play back singer (
Mannan), Story and Screen Playwriter (
Valli), and Producer.
He is married to Latha (Playback singer), who runs a School named Ashram. They have two daughters Ishwarya and Soundarya. Ishwarya got married to actor
Dhanush in 2004. His second daughter
Soundarya Rajinikanth is a Director, Producer and Graphic Designer.
He is more spiritual, simple, and humble in nature and runs a charity trust named Raghavendra Trust which educates the poor. He converted one of his banquet halls Raghavendra Kalyana Mandapam to a charitable trust to help the needy. He has distributed 12 Lakhs as a relief fund to the family members of the bereaved in the bomb blast in Coimbatore. He has donated 10 lakhs for the Sri Lankan Tamil Humanitarian Aid.
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