Information About

Rajinikanth





Actor Information

  Name Rajinikanth
  Birthdate 1
  Location Karnataka , India
  Height 5ft 9in
  Birthname Sivaji Rao Gaekwad
  Othername Super Star, Thalaivar
  Homepage http://wwwrajinifanscom/
  Awards Kalaimamani ( 1984 )<br> Padmabhushan ( 2000 )
  Filmfareawards Best Actor ( 1995 )
  Spouse Latha Rajinikanth
  Children Aishwarya Rajinikanth<br> Soundarya Rajinikanth


Rajinikanth (, 1949 ) is an Indian Actor , and one of the most prominent actor in the Indian Film Industry . He received India's third highest honour the Padma Bhushan, for his work in Indian cinema in 2000.2 Rajinikanth is at ease playing roles in Comedies , Drama , Action and Thrillers .


EARLY LIFE

Rajinikanth was born to a Maratha Family in Bangalore , Karnataka . He was the fourth child of his parents, Jijabai and Ramoji Rao. He was named Shivaji Rao Gaekwad. He lost his mother at the age of five. He did his schooling at the Acharya Pathshala in Bangalore and then at the Vivekananda Balak Sangh, a unit of the Ramakrishna Mission . Rajnikanth struggled lot during his early age because of poverty. Although his native tongue is Marathi , he has not acted in any Marathi movies yet.

He began his career doing various jobs in Karnataka . He also attended a theatre for stage plays. Before starting his career in the film industry, he worked as a Bus Conductor for the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation in Bangalore.3 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 on November 18, 2004 and they have a 6 month old son, Yathra. 4


ACTING CAREER


He joined the Madras Film institute in 1973 with the help of a friend and completed a basic course in acting.5


1975-1979

In Tamil Cinema he was initially cast in supporting roles, the first being that of a cancer patient in '' Apoorva Raagangal '' (1975), directed by K. Balachander . However, his first film was in kannada, Katha Sangama directed by Puttanna kanagal (1975). 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 abandoned 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 cry. The acceptance of Rajinikanth sans his mannerisms proved he had at last become an "star" from a "common actor."

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


1980-1989

At this crucial phase in his career when he was reaching dizzying heights, Rajinikanth abruptly chose to quit acting, but was coaxed back {Link without Title} . As an answer to critics who were claiming that "Rajini was finished" came '' Billa '', which was a remake of Amitabh Bachchan starrer '' Don ''. With its phenomenal success he was accepted as a full-fledged hero. ''Billa'' was followed by a row of hits like '' Murattukaalai '','' Pokkiri Raja '', '' Thanikattu Raja '', '' Naan Mahaan Alla '' and '' Moondru Mugam ''. Even two decades after its release, the latter 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 Rajinikanth hit 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 of his movies during the nineties were successful, like ''.78 When he was 53, his '' Baba '' released amidst much fanfare. Although the film grossed enough to cover its budget, it was viewed as a miserable showing and fell short of market expectations and high bids accumulating heavy losses for the distributors. Rajinikanth himself repaid the losses incurred by the distributors who had immense faith in him.910
His latest film, '''' to be directed by his daughter Soundarya Rajnikanth. The movie is scheduled for a 2008 release.


Other work

Apart from Tamil , Rajinikanth has acted in over 160 movies, including Telugu , Kannada , Malayalam , Hindi and Bengali movies. Rajinikanth made a foray into Bollywood with '' Andha Kanoon '' but couldn't make as much of an impact as he had in the south. He still made a few films in Hindi, like '' Chaalbaaz '' with Sridevi , 'Uttar Dakshin', Hum. He also had a brief stint in Hollywood with the movie '' Bloodstone '' in 1988.


AWARDS AND HONOURS

Rajinikanth was named as one of the influential persons in South Asia by Best Actor award and many awards during his career for his acting.11

In the years between 1977 and 2005 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)12 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.


POLITICS

  • 1995 Announced that he is willing to support the Congress Party after meeting Prime Minister Narasimha Rao . NewIndPress.com: The making of 'Sivaji' An opinion poll conducted by Kumudam magazine predicted that Congress with Rajinikanth support may win up to 130 seats in Tamilnadu Assembly

  • 1996 Congress decided to align with AIADMK . Rajinikanth supported DMK - TMC alliance. The TMC used the Bicycle as their election symbol and used Rajinikanth's riding Bicycle in Annamalai movie in their posters. Rajinikanth uttered "Even God cannot save Tamilnadu if AIADMK returns to power".

  • 1998 Rajinikanth supported the DMK-TMC alliance in parliamentary elections. Dinakaran: Tamil Cinema 1998-Year Highlights (Part-2) SUN TV broadcast Rajini's speech throughout the day of the election. AIADMK - BJP alliance won around 30 out of 39 seats riding on sympathy wave generated by Coimbatore Bomb Blasts .

  • 2002 Rajinikanth undertook a day-long fast to protest Karnataka's decision to not to release Cauvery water to Tamilnadu. Yahoo! India News: Naidu calls Rajini to join Third Front Announced that he would contribute 10 Million and many experts to canvass support for Interlinking Indian rivers scheme.

  • 2004 Supported BJP-AIADMK alliance in Parliamentary elections and quoted PMK 's violence and BJP 's support to interlinking of Indian rivers {Link without Title} as reason for his support. But the alliance failed to win any seats.



Political Controversies

  • He did not participate in the agitation sponsored by Tamil film artists in Neyveli protesting against Karnataka's refusal to release Cauvery water. Instead he participated in token fasting at Chennai . Bharathiraja who organized agitation attacked him vehemently and assigned bad intentions for his non participation in the agitation.13

  • PMK leader Ramadas condemned him for smoking and posing with Beedi's in his film ''Baba''. He was criticised for spoiling Tamil youth by glorifying smoking and drinking. PMK volunteers attacked theatres which screened the movie ''Baba'' and usurped film rolls and burnt it.14. Famous film producers like M. Saravanan accused that cigarette smoking and drinking are shown in all movies and Rajini's film was chosen by the PMK leader because of his popularity in Vanniar areas which is considered PMK bastion.



PHILANTHROPIC ACTIVITIES

Rajinikanth is known for philanthropic activities.15
  • Recently he converted his Raghavendra Marriage Hall to a charitable trust to help the needy. {Link without Title}

  • He shared his income from the film "Arunachalam" with eight other people from the film industry as profit shares . {Link without Title}

  • He is planning to construct a new hospital and a new school on a piece of land near Chennai .16

  • He has distributed Rs 12 Lakhs as relief to the family members of the bereaved in the Coimbatore bomb blast. {Link without Title}



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