Rajinikanth
Shivaji Rao Gaikwad, known professionally as Rajinikanth, is an Indian actor who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. In a career spanning over five decades, he has done 170 films that includes films in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, Bangla, and Malayalam. He is widely regarded to be one of the most successful and popular actors in the history of Indian cinema. The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Bhushan in 2000 and the Padma Vibhushan in 2016, India's third and second highest civilian honours respectively, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2019, the highest Indian award in the field of cinema, and the IFFI Satyajit Ray Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to world cinema.
Following his debut in K. Balachander's 1975 Tamil drama Apoorva Raagangal, Rajinikanth's acting career commenced with a brief phase of portraying antagonistic characters in Tamil films. His major positive role as a scorned lover in S. P. Muthuraman's Bhuvana Oru Kelvi Kuri, 1978's Mullum Malarum and Aval Appadithan received him critical acclaim; the former earned him a Tamil Nadu State Film Award Special Prize for Best Actor. By the end of the decade, he had worked in all South Indian film industries and established a career in Tamil cinema. He then played dual roles in the action thriller Billa, a remake of the Hindi film Don. It was his biggest commercial success to that point, earned him stardom and gave him the action hero image. He starred in triple role in Moondru Mugam, which earned him a special prize at the Tamil Nadu State Film Awards ceremony. The following year, he made his Hindi film debut with T. Rama Rao's top grossing Andhaa Kaanoon. Nallavanukku Nallavan won him that year's Filmfare Award for Best Tamil Actor. In the latter half of the 1980s, he starred in several successful films in Tamil and Hindi, including Geraftaar, Padikkadavan, Mr. Bharath, Dosti Dushmani, Velaikaran, Manithan, Dharmathin Thalaivan and ChaalBaaz.
In 1991, Mani Ratnam's Tamil crime film Thalapathi, earned him major critical acclaim for his performance. He collaborated with Suresh Krissna for many films including Annaamalai and Baashha ; the latter was the biggest commercial success in his career yet as well as the highest-grossing film in Tamil for many years. His other success includes P. Vasu's Mannan, Uzhaippali and K. S. Ravikumar's Muthu and Padayappa ; the latter, which went on to become his and Tamil cinema's highest-grossing movie, exceeding Baashha.
After a few years of hiatus, Rajinikanth returned to acting with the comedy horror film Chandramukhi ; it went on to become the highest-grossing Tamil film of all time. His next, S. Shankar's Sivaji was the third Indian film and the first ever Tamil film to enter the 100 Crore Club. He then played dual role as a scientist and an andro-humanoid robot in the science fiction film Enthiran and its sequel 2.0, both being India's most expensive productions at the time of their release and among the highest-grossing Indian films of all time. His action films Jailer and Coolie became major commercial success in Tamil cinema, making him the only actor in the industry with three films surpassing the ₹500 crore mark.
Known for his uniquely styled mannerism and one liners in films, he has a huge fan base and a cult following, he has won numerous film awards, including the National Film Award, seven Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, a Nandi Award, a Filmfare Award and two Maharashtra State Film Awards. Rajinikanth was named one of the most influential persons in South Asia by Asiaweek. He was also named by Forbes India as the most influential Indian of the year 2010.
Early life and background
Rajinikanth was born as Shivaji Rao Gaikwad on 12 December 1950 in a Marathi family in Bangalore, Mysore State. His mother was a homemaker, and his father Ramoji Rao Gaekwad was a police constable. His ancestors hailed from Mavadi Kadepathar, Pune district, Maharashtra. He is the youngest of four siblings in a family consisting of two elder brothers and a sister. After his father's retirement from work in 1956, the family moved to the suburb of Hanumantha Nagar in Bangalore and built a house there. He lost his mother at the age of nine.Rajinikanth had his primary education at the Gavipuram Government Kannada Model Primary School in Bangalore. As a child, he was "studious and mischievous" with a great interest in cricket, football and basketball. During this time, his brother enrolled him at the Ramakrishna Math, a Hindu monastery set up by the Ramakrishna Mission. In the math, he was taught Vedas, tradition and history, which eventually instilled a sense of spirituality in him. In addition to spiritual lessons, he also began acting in plays at the math. His aspiration towards theatre grew at the math and was once given an opportunity to enact the role of Ekalavya
Upon completion of his school education, Rajinikanth performed several jobs including that of a coolie, before getting a job in the Bangalore Transport Service as a bus conductor. He continued to take part in plays after the Kannada playwright Topi Muniappa offered him a chance to act in one of his mythological plays. He decided to take up an acting course in the newly formed Madras Film Institute after coming across an advertisement. Although his family was not fully supportive of his decision to join the institute, his friend and co-worker Raj Bahadur motivated him to join the institute and financially supported him during this phase. During his stay at the institute, he was noticed by the Tamil film director K. Balachander. Balachander provided Rajinikanth with his stage name to avoid confusion with fellow actor Sivaji Ganesan, having taken it from a character's name in his earlier film Major Chandrakanth. The director advised him to learn to speak Tamil, a recommendation that Rajinikanth quickly followed. Although he can read the language, he cannot write in it.
Acting career
1975–1977: Early career
Rajinikanth began his film career with the Tamil film Apoorva Raagangal, directed by K. Balachander. He was cast in a small role as the ex-husband of the female lead played by Srividya. The film explored relationships between people with wide age differences and was deemed controversial upon release. However, it received critical acclaim and won three National Film Awards including the Award for the Best Tamil Feature at the 23rd National Film Awards in 1976. A review from The Hindu noted that, "Newcomer Rajinikanth is dignified and impressive." His next release was Puttanna Kanagal's Kannada anthology film Katha Sangama. Rajinikanth appeared in the last segment of the film; he played the role as a village ruffian who rapes a blind woman in the absence of her husband. Balachander cast him in a pivotal role in Anthuleni Katha, the Telugu remake of his own Tamil film Aval Oru Thodar Kathai. In Moondru Mudichuthe first Tamil film to feature him in a prominent rolehe played a character that "blithely row away" when his friend drowns accidentally in the lake only to fulfill his desire to marry the former's girlfriend. His style of flipping the cigarette in the film made him popular among the audience. In his final release of the year, Baalu Jenu, he was cast as the main antagonist who troubles the female lead. He played similar roles in Balachander's Avargal, and Bharathiraja's 16 Vayadhinile. The same year, he made his first-ever appearance as a lead actor in the Telugu film Chilakamma Cheppindi, which earned him his only nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu. S. P. Muthuraman experimented Rajinikanth in a positive role in Bhuvana Oru Kelvi Kuri. The success of the film brought the duo together for 24 more films till the 1990s. Rajinikanth played supporting and "villainous" roles in most of the films released during the year. In Gaayathri he was cast as a pornographer who secretly films his relationship with his wife without her knowledge and in Galate Samsara he played the role of a married man who develops an affair with a cabaret dancer. He had 15 of his films released during the year.1978–1989: Experimentation and breakthrough
In 1978, Rajinikanth had 20 releases across Tamil, Telugu and Kannada. His first film of the year was P. Madhavan's Shankar Salim Simon, in which he was among the three leads. Following that, he co-starred alongside Vishnuvardhan in the Kannada film Kiladi Kittu. He played the second lead in Annadammula Savaal, which starred Krishna; Rajinikanth reprised his role from the Kannada original. He then played an important role in the supernatural thriller Aayiram Jenmangal. In Maathu Tappada Maga, he was the main antagonist. Bairavi, directed by M. Bhaskar, was the first Tamil film to cast Rajinikanth as a solo hero. It was for this film that he earned the sobriquet "Superstar". S. Thanu, one of the film's distributors, set up a high cut-out of Rajinikanth. His next appearance Ilamai Oonjal Aadukirathu, a quadrangular love story written and directed by C. V. Sridhar, saw him play the role of a man who sacrifices his love for his friend, played by Kamal Haasan. The film's success prompted Sridhar to remake the film in Telugu, Vayasu Pilichindi, which retained the original cast of the Tamil film.His next film, Vanakkatukuriya Kathaliye, had an introductory song to mark his entry, a trend that would soon catch on in with his later films. Mullum Malarum, released during the same period, received critical acclaim, and earned him his first Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil nomination. The film marked the directional debut of Mahendran, with a screenplay adapted from a novel of the same name published in Kalki. It won the Filmfare Award for Best Tamil Film and a Special Prize for Rajinikanth at the Tamil Nadu State Film Awards. Following this, he made a foray into Malayalam cinema with I. V. Sasi's fantasy film Allauddinum Albhutha Vilakkum, which was based on a story from the Arabian Nights. The same year, he acted in Dharma Yuddam, in which he played a mentally-ill person avenging the death of his parents. He then co-starred with N. T. Rama Rao in Tiger. Upon completion of Tiger, Rajinikanth had acted in 50 films over a period of four years, and in four languages. Some other popular films released during this period are the youthful entertainer Ninaithale Inikkum, the Tamil–Kannada bilingual Priya, the Telugu film Amma Evarikkaina Amma and the melodrama Aarilirunthu Arubathu Varai. Priya, based on a detective novel by Sujatha, had the distinction of being the first film of Rajinikanth to be shot mostly outside India, mainly in Southeast Asia. Aarilirunthu Arubathu Varai earned him his second nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil.
Raijinikanth, who credited Hindi film star Amitabh Bachchan as his inspiration, began playing Amitabh Bachchan's roles in Tamil remakes of his films. This began with Shankar Salim Simon, a remake of Amar Akbar Anthony, followed by Naan Vazhavaippen, a remake of Majboor. He was subsequently cast in a series of roles modelled after Amitabh Bachchan in Tamil remakes of his films. Rajinikanth starred in eleven Tamil remakes of Amitabh Bachchan films, as well as a Telugu remake of Amar Akbar Anthony, Ram Robert Rahim, alongside Sridevi. The most successful of these were remakes of Salim–Javed films, such as Billa, Thee and Mr. Bharath.
During this phase of his career, Rajinikanth abruptly chose to quit acting, but was coaxed to return with the Tamil film Billa, a remake of the Bollywood blockbuster Don, written by Salim-Javed and starring Amitabh Bachchan. Billa had Rajinikanth playing dual roles and eventually became his first solo commercial success. His pairing with Sridevi continued in Johnny, where he was once again cast in a double role, earned him his third nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil. He also starred in Murattu Kaalai which was a commercial success. The success of Billa was a turning point in Rajinikanth's career, disproving detractors that claimed Rajinikanth was "finished" and which saw him accepted as a full-fledged hero. The success of Billa established Rajinikanth as one of the top stars of Tamil cinema.
In 1981, he appeared in Garjanai which was shot simultaneously in Kannada and Malayalam, making it his last film in those two languages up until 2023. In K. Balachander's first home production, Netrikan, he played dual roles as a womanising father and a responsible son. His first full-length comedy was Thillu Mullu, directed by K. Balachander. He agreed to it solely due to the strong suggestion by his mentor that he should do non-commercial roles, to break the stereotyped action-hero mould by which he was getting famous at the time. Thillu Mullu earned him his fourth nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil. 1981 also saw the release of Thee, a remake of blockbuster Hindi film Deewaar, also originally written by Salim-Javed and starring Amitabh Bachchan; in Thee, Rajinikanth reprised the role of Bachchan. In 1982, he starred in Pokkiri Raja, Moondru Mugam, Thanikattu Raja, Pudukavithai and Enkeyo Ketta Kural. Moondru Mugam which starred Rajinikanth playing three different roles for the first time, earned him his fifth nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil.
By 1983, he was a popular actor across South Indian cinema, including Telugu and Kannada films. In 1983, Rajinikanth starred in his first Bollywood film, Andhaa Kaanoon, alongside Hema Malini, Reena Roy and Amitabh Bachchan. The film opened to excellent response from the audience and emerged a blockbuster at the box office. In 1984, he appeared in Naan Mahaan Alla, a remake of Subhash Ghai's directional Vishwanath, the film proved to be a superhit. That same year, he played a small role in Anbulla Rajinikanth and delivered three more successful Hindi films, Meri Adalat, Gangvaa and John Jani Janardhan. His performance in Nallavanuku Nallavan earned him his first and only Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil. In his 100th film Sri Raghavendra, he played the Hindu saint Raghavendra Swami.
In the second half of the 1980s, Rajinikanth acted in commercially successful films, such as Naan Sigappu Manithan, Geraftaar, Padikkathavan, Mr. Bharath, Dosti Dushmani, Velaikaran, Manithan, Insaaf Kaun Karega, Guru Sishyan and Dharmathin Thalaivan, with Velaikaran earning him his seventh nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil. In 1988, he made his only American film appearance in Bloodstone, directed by Dwight Little, in which he played an English-speaking Indian taxi driver. Rajinikanth finished the decade with films including Rajadhi Raja, Siva, Raja Chinna Roja and Mappillai while also starring in a few Bollywood productions. Raja Chinna Roja was the first Indian film to feature live action and animation.