All You Need To Know About Rajinikanth

Early Life

Rajinikanth lost his mother at the age of 5 and was raised by his father and his elder brother. Known as Shivaji Rao Gaekwad, he couldn't complete his school education due to lack of financial support before attending a couple of schools namely Acharya Patasala and Vivekananda Balak Sangh, a unit of the Ramakrishna Mission in Bangalore.

Impressing K.Balachander With His Style

Upon completing his course from Madras Film Institute with the help of his friend Raj Bahadur who was working as a bus driver, Rajinikanth was being ignored by many directors until he was spotted by the ace director K.Balachander. Balachander, after seeing Rajinikanth performing his usual tricks with a cigarette, was impressed by his prestidigitation.

Interestingly, Balachander had also predicted that Rajinikanth would one day make it big in Kollywood. A famous incident where K. Balachander was having a cup of tea with the famed singer S.P. Balasubrahmanyam outside AVM Studio pointed out at Rajinikanth who was standing with a group of other junior artistes. On being asked who the gentleman is by S.P.B, Balachander had confidently said that this guy will rule Tamil cinema in the near future.

The Life Changing Movie

Though Rajinikanth had started acting in a few movies, with Apoorva Raagangal being his first in which he was seen barely for 10 minutes as Pandiyan, his first movie as a hero came with Bhuvana Oru Kelvi Kuri courtesy SP Muthuraman, the director of the movie.

Interestingly this movie saw Rajinikanth, who until then was seen playing negative roles, play a role of a man who gives importance to moral values while Sivakumar, who was an established hero then, was seen in a negative role.

The Journey to Stardom

Though Rajinikanth considers K.Balachander to be his mentor, the director who turned him into a force to reckon with is SP. Muthuraman. After introducing him as a hero, Muthuraman went on to cast him in his 1980 film Murattu Kaalai which was at that time the highest budget film ever for a Rajini starrer.

This film not only went on to become a huge success but also hinted at Rajinikanth's prodigious screen presence and his possible ability to carry Kollywood forward. Rest as they say is history.

Favourite Food And Hobbies

If you want to impress Rajinikanth, then the best possible way to do it is by preparing him chicken. Yes, Rajinikanth loves chicken and has earlier said that he will always find time to eat some nice home cooked chicken. His love for dosas is also well known as the actor frequently visits Vidyarthi Bhavan, a vegetarian restaurant in Bangalore in disguise to munch on his favourite Masala Dosas.

His favourite hobbies include reading books, gardening and photography. Even today, the actor is sometimes seen gardening at his backyard.

Spirituality

Rajinikanth finds peace and serenity at the Himalayas and hence is seen visiting caves and ashram in the North Indian region. His 100th movie was a dedication to his beloved God Sri Raghavendra in which Rajinikanth was seen playing the saint himself. His movie Baba also was dedicated to Mahavatar Babaji whose ideology is followed by Rajinikanth.

Taking Tamil Cinema To The World

Rajinikanth has an amazing fan following not only in India but also in various other countries like Japan, USA, Singapore, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Australia and many more. His 1995 film Muthu was watched by thousands of Japanese people who went to the cinema theatres with an elongated piece of cloth to imitate his style as shown in the movie even though they were not able to understand the language. He is also given the name 'King of Dance' by his Japanese fans.