Mumbai: Megastar Rajinikanth celebrates his 68th birthday December 12. Fans cannot calm and have started the celebrations as his birthday is observed as a festival all over India.
At Saidapet Gangai Amman Temple, fans of the ace actor gathered to pray for his long life and continue their 70-day celebrations for Thailaiva’s 68th birthday. On this auspicious occasion, let’s take a look into his inspiring journey from a bus conductor to becoming the megastar of film industries.
His life has not been easy as he had to face several financial crisis from his childhood as his mother passed away only when he was five years old. Following his mother’s demise, the responsibility of the family fell on him. To make both ends meet of his family, he even worked as a coolie.
Rajinikanth’s real name is Shivaji Rao Gaekwad which later became Rajinikanth. Rajinikanth also used to work as a bus conductor before becoming a superstar.
Rajinikanth made his debut in Tamil film industry with Balachander’s film Apoorva Raagangal. The film also featured Kamal Haasan and Srividya. Rajinikanth made his acting debut in Kannada plays. Rajinikanth became popular from house to house for the role of Duryodhana.
Rajinikanth first appeared as a hero in SP Muthuraman’s film Bhuvana Oru Kelvikkuri after playing many negative characters. The success of the film brought the duo together for 24 more films till the 1990s. Rajinikanth played supporting and ‘villanous’ roles in most of the films released during the year.
Rajinikanth did three distinct roles as Alex Pandian, Arun and John in Moondru Mugam. T Rama Rao’s film Andha Kanoon was Rajinikanth’s first Hindi film alongside Amitabh Bachchan and Hema Malini. The film went on to become one of the highest-grossing films of that time.
Rajinikanth is not only a South Indian superstar, he ranks third among Asia’s highest-paid actors. Rajinikanth is the most expensive actor in India. According to the news, Rajinikanth charged Rs 40 to 60 crores for the film Kabali. Rajinikanth also charged around 80 crores for the film 2.0 released last year.
