Rajinikanth birthday: Journey of Thalaiva from a bus conductor to megastar

Rajinikanth is one of the popular film stars in India, who works predominantly in the Tamil film industry. The Thalaiva turned 69 on his birthday today. For those who are unaware, the South India megastar has done more than 160 films until now. Born as a Maharashtrian, Shivaji Rao Gaekwad is one of the highest-paid actors in the country. Here is a look back on the journey of the megastar from a bus conductor to a movie star. 

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Rajinikanth's life from a conductor to an actor

Rajinikanth was born in Karnataka as the fourth child in the family thus being the youngest of all his siblings. His original name is Shivaji Rao Gaekwad but he later chose a different stage name while doing movies. Rajinikanth started his youth by working in odd jobs staring from carpenter to a coolie and then to a conductor in Bangalore, Karnataka. During this stage, he started gaining interest in the performing arts and started participating in various theatre plays. Later, he was introduced by the renowned Tamil director K.Balachandar in the movie Aboorva Raagangal. Although Rajinikanth considers K.Balachandar as his ultimate guru, -it is SP Muthuraman who is credited with revamping the whole image of the megastar. SP Muthuraman's movie Bhuvana Oru Kelvikkuri and Arulirunthu Arupathu Varai are credited as the movies which transitioned Rajini Sir from the good guy roles to villainous portrayals. These movies proved to be profitable for the megastar and he started gaining media attention as well as prominence in the Tamil cinema. 

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Rajinikanth's prominence as the megastar

It was at this time when Rajini suffered from aversion from the tinsel town due to the sudden name and fame he received that he thought of leaving the movie industry. It was his guru Balachander and Kamal Haasan who convinced him to bear through this phase and keep on doing movies. After that, there was no stopping for the megastar, as he was credited as a full-fledged hero from the movie Billa, post which movies like Pokkiri Raja, Thanikkattu Raja, Naan Mahaan Alla, Moondru Mugham, Nettrikkam, Badshah, Annamalai, Arunachalam, Ejaman, Muthu and Padayappa broke all regional collection records. Even after all the mighty success that Rajinikanth has achieved, the megastar is not known to have any sort of starry attitude or ego. His humbleness and reclusive nature are what makes the Tamil hero a megastar among his fans. 

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Upcoming Rajinikanth movies

Rajinikanth's upcoming movie with Nayanthara titled Darbar is making rounds currently being directed by A. R. Murgadoss. The USP of the film is that the film features Rajinikanth portraying as a cop almost 27 years after he played a policeman in the 1992's film Pandiyan plus this is the first time that the megastar and  Ghajini director are working together. It is reported that superstar Rajnikanth will announce his own political party soon after the release of the film Darbar. Reportedly, post-Darbar, Rajinikanth will be seen in the film Thalaivar 168 to be apparently made by Viswasam director Siruthai Siva. Although the movie name could be changed from Thalaivar 168 to Viyoogam and might also star Jyothika and Keerthy Suresh. According to media reports, Rajnikanth's Darbar, Deepika Padukone's Chhapaak and Ajay Devgn's Tanhaji, might clash at the box office in 2020. 

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