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Rajinikanth
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Rajinikanth
Kochadaiiyaan Rajini.jpg
Rajinikanth at the soundtrack album release of Kochadaiiyaan (2014)
Born
Shivaji Rao Gaekwad
12 December 1950 (age 65)
Bangalore, Mysore State, India
(now in Karnataka, India)
Residence
Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Nationality
Indian
Ethnicity
Marathi
Occupation
Film actor, producer, screenwriter, playback singer.
Years active
1975 present
Spouse(s)
Latha Rangachari
(1981 present)
Children
Aishwarya R. Dhanush
Soundarya R. Ashwin
Relatives
see Rajinikanth family tree
Awards IND Padma Bhushan BAR.png Padma Bhushan (2000)IND Padma Vibhushan BAR.pn
g Padma Vibhushan (2016)
Rajinikanth (born Shivaji Rao Gaekwad 12 December 1950) is an Indian film actor,
media personality, and cultural icon[1] who works primarily in the Tamil film i
ndustry. He has also acted in Bollywood, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Hollywood a
nd Bengali films as well.
He began acting in plays while working in the Bangalore Transport Service as a b
us conductor. In 1973, he joined the Madras Film Institute to pursue a diploma i
n acting. Following his debut in K. Balachander's Tamil drama Apoorva Raagangal
(1975), his acting career commenced with a brief phase of portraying antagonisti
c characters in Tamil films. After establishing himself as a lead actor in a num
ber of commercially successful films, he began to be referred to as a "superstar
" and has since continued to hold a matine idol status in the popular culture of
Tamil Nadu.[2] His mannerisms and stylised delivery of dialogue in films contrib
ute to his mass popularity and appeal.[2]
After earning ?26 crore (equivalent to ?43 crore or US$6.3 million in 2016) for
his role in Sivaji (2007), he was the highest paid actor in Asia after Jackie Ch
an at the time. While working in other regional film industries of India, Rajini
kanth has also appeared in the cinemas of other nations, including that of the U
nited States. As of 2014, Rajinikanth has won six Tamil Nadu State Film Awards fou
r Best Actor Awards and two Special Awards for Best Actor and a Filmfare Best Tami
l Actor Award. In addition to acting, he has also worked as a producer and scree
nwriter. Apart from his film career, he is also a philanthropist, spiritualist,
and serves as an influence in Dravidian politics. The Government of India has ho
noured him with the Padma Bhushan (2000) and the Padma Vibhushan (2016). At the
45th International Film Festival of India (2014), he was conferred with the "Cen
tenary Award for Indian Film Personality of the Year".
Contents

1 Early life
2 Acting career
2.1 Early career (1975 77)
2.2 Experimentation and breakthrough (1978 89)
2.3 Commercial stardom (1990 2001)
2.4 Struggles, resurgence and acclaim (2002 10)
2.5 Hospitalisation and return (2011 present)
3 Image and influence
3.1 Culture
3.2 Politics
4 Personal life
4.1 Family
4.2 Views
4.3 Controversies
4.4 Philanthropy
5 Awards and honours
6 References
7 Bibliography
8 Further reading
9 External links
Early life
Rajinikanth was born on 12 December 1950, in a Marathi family to his mother Rama
bai, a housewife, and Ramoji Rao Gaekwad, a police constable,[3] in Bangalore, M
ysore State,[4] present day Karnataka.[3][5] He was named Shivaji Rao Gaekwad af
ter Chhatrapati Shivaji, a Maratha warrior King, and was brought up speaking Mar
athi at home and Kannada outside.[4] Rajinikanth's ancestors hailed from a villa
ge called Mavdi Kade Pathar, near Jejuri a part of the Purandar taluka of the pr
esent-day Pune district, Maharashtra.[6] He is the youngest of four siblings in
a family consisting of two elder brothers, Satyanarayana Rao & Nageshwara Rao an
d a sister, Aswath Balubhai.[7][4] After his father's retirement from work in 19
56, the family moved to the suburb of Hanumantha nagar, Bangalore and built a ho
use there.[4] When he was nine years old, he lost his mother.[8]
At the age of six, Rajinikanth was enrolled at the "Gavipuram Government Kannada
Model Primary School" where he had his primary education.[9] As a child, he was
studious and "mischievous" with a great interest in cricket, football and baske
tball. It was during this time his brother enrolled him at the Ramakrishna Math,
a Hindu monastery set up by Ramakrishna Mission. In the math, he was taught Ved
as, tradition and history which eventually instilled a sense of spirituality in
him.[10] 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 oppo
rtunity to enact the role of Ekalavya's friend from the Hindu epic Mahabharata.
His performance in the play received praise from the audience and Kannada poet D
. R. Bendre in particular.[4] After sixth grade, Rajinikanth was enrolled at the
Acharya Pathasala Public School and studied there till completion of his pre-un
iversity course.[10] During his schooling at the Acharya Pathasala, he spent a l
ot of time acting in plays. In one such occasion, he performed the role of the v
illainous Duryodhana in the play Kurukshetra.[11]
Upon completion of his school education, Rajinikanth continued to perform variou
s jobs in the cities of Bangalore and Madras, including that of a coolie and car
penter,[12] and finally ended up being recruited in the Bangalore Transport Serv
ice (BTS) as a bus conductor.[13][14] He began to take part in stage plays after
Kannada playwright Topi Muniappa offered him a chance to act in one of his myth
ological plays. During the time, he came across an advertisement issued by the n
ewly formed Madras Film Institute which offered acting courses.[15] Though his f
amily was not fully supportive of his decision to join the institute,[15] his fr
iend and co-worker Raj Bahadur motivated him to join the institute and financial

ly supported him during this phase.[16][17] During his stay at the institute, he
was performing in a stage play and got noticed by Tamil film director K. Balach
ander.[11] The director advised him to learn to speak Tamil, a recommendation th
at Rajinikanth quickly followed.[18]
Acting career
Further information: Rajinikanth filmography
Early career (1975 77)
"Rajinikanth claims that I am his school. But I must admit that this wasn't the
Rajinikanth I introduced. he has evolved on his own merits and strengths. I gave
him an opportunity and unveiled him to the world. He went and conquered it."
K. Balachander about Rajinikanth[19]
Rajinikanth began his film career through the Tamil film Apoorva Raagangal (1975
).[20] Balachander gave Rajinikanth a relatively small role as an abusive husban
d of Srividya.[20][21][22] The film was controversial upon release as it explore
d relationships between people with wide age differences.[23] However, it receiv
ed wide critical acclaim as it went on to win three National Film Awards includi
ng the award for the Best Tamil Feature at the following year ceremony.[24] A re
view from The Hindu noted that, "Newcomer Rajinikanth is dignified and impressiv
e".[25] He followed that with Katha Sangama (1976), an experimental film made by
Puttanna Kanagal in the new wave style.[26] The film was a portmanteau of three
short stories had Rajinikanth playing a small character in the last segment whe
re he appears as a village ruffian who rapes a blind woman in the absence of her
husband.[27] His next release was Anthuleni Katha, a Telugu film directed by Ba
lachander.[27] A remake of his own Tamil film Aval Oru Thodar Kathai (1974), had
Rajinikanth playing a pivotal role for the first time in his career.[27] In the
subsequent films, he continued to perform a series of negative roles mostly as
a womaniser. In Moondru Mudichu the first film to feature him in a prominent role he
plays a character that "blithely row[s] away" when his friend drowns accidental
ly into the lake only to fulfill his desire to marry the former's girlfriend.[28
] His style of flipping the cigarette made him popular among the audience.[29] H
is final release of the year Baalu Jenu, yet again saw him performing a role whi
ch troubles the female lead.[27] He followed that with similar roles in Avargal,
[30] and 16 Vayadhinile.[27][31] In 1977, he accepted his first-ever lead role i
n the Telugu film Chilakamma Cheppindi.[32] Though Rajinikanth always refers to
K. Balachander as his mentor,[33] it was S. P. Muthuraman who revamped his image
.[34] Muthuraman first experimented with him in a positive role in Bhuvana Oru K
elvikkuri (1977), as a failed lover in the first half of the film and a protagon
ist in the second half.[34] The success of the film brought the duo together for
24 more films till the 1990s.[34] The year saw Rajinikanth playing supporting r
oles in majority of the films with few of them being "villainous".[28] In Gayath
ri he was cast as pornographer who secretly films his relationship with his wife
without the knowledge of her, while in Galate Samsara he played the role of a m
arried man who develops an affair with a cabaret dancer.[35] All in all, he had
15 of his films released during the year, much higher than the previous years.[3
6]
Experimentation and breakthrough (1978 89)
In 1978, Rajinikanth went on to star in 20 different films across Tamil, Telugu,
and Kannada.[37][38] His first film of the year was P. Madhavan's Shankar Salim
Simon. Following that he was seen in the Kannada film Kiladi Kittu co-starring
Vishnuvardhan, who was then a leading actor in Kannada. His next release Annadam
mula Savaal saw him playing the second lead with Krishna. Rajinikanth had repris
ed his role in the Kannada original. He then played an important role in Aayiram
Jenmangal which was touted to be a supernatural thriller. He then appeared as a
prime antagonist in Maathu Tappada Maga, which happened to be his 25th release.
Bairavi released in the same year was the first Tamil film to cast Rajinikanth
as a main hero directed by M.Bhaskar.[39][37] It was in this film he earned the
sobriquet "Superstar".[37] S. Thanu who was one of the film's distributor placed

a cut-out of Rajinikanth over a height of 35 feet (11 m).[40] His next appearan
ce Ilamai Oonjal Aadukirathu, a quadrangular love story made by C. V. Sridhar, s
aw him playing 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 Telug
u and thus ended up directing Vayasu Pilichindi where the original cast in the T
amil film was retained. His next film Vanakkatukuriya Kathaliye has an introduct
ory song to mark his entry, a trend that would soon catch up with his later film
s.[37] Mullum Malarum that released during the same period received critical acc
laim.[41] The film marked the directional debut of J. Mahendran, had the screenp
lay adapted from a novel of the same name published in Kalki.[37] It eventually
won the Filmfare Award for Best Tamil Film and Rajinikanth a special prize for B
est Actor at the Tamil Nadu State Film Awards.[37] Following this, he made a for
ay into Malayalam cinema through the fantasy film Allauddinum Albhutha Vilakkum
which was based on a story from Arabian Nights. The same year, he acted in Dharm
a Yuddam, in which he played a mentally ill person taking revenge for his parent
s' deaths. He then co-starred with N. T. Rama Rao in Tiger. With the completion
of Tiger, Rajinikanth had acted in 50 films over a period of four years and span
ning across four languages. Some of the popular films that also released during
this period are the youthful entertainer Ninaithale Inikkum, the Tamil Kannada bil
ingual Priya, the Telugu film Amma Evarikkaina Amma and the melodrama Aarilirunt
hu Arubathu Varai. Priya, based on a detective novel by Sujatha Rangarajan had t
he distinction of being the first film of Rajinikanth to be shot mostly outside
India, mainly in Southeast Asia.[37]
Rajinikanth in 1989, during the shooting of Raja Chinna Roja
By 1980, he became a popular actor in the South Indian cinema.[42] During this p
hase of his career, Rajinikanth abruptly chose to quit acting, but was coaxed ba
ck.[43] He made a comeback with the Tamil film Billa, which was a remake of the
Bollywood film Don (1978). It had Rajinikanth playing dual roles and eventually
became his first ever commercial success. His pairing with Sridevi continued in
Johnny where he was once again cast in a double role. He also starred in Murattu
Kaalai which was a commercial success.[34] In 1981, he appeared in Garjanai whi
ch was shot simultaneously in Kannada and Malayalam, making it his last film in
those two languages till date. In K. Balachander's first home production, Netrik
an, he performed dual roles as a womanising father and a responsible son.[34] He
acted in Thillu Mullu directed by K. Balachander, which was Rajinikanth's first
full-length comedy. 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-h
ero mould by which he was getting famous at the time.[44] 1981 also saw the rele
ase of Thee, the remake of Amitabh Bachchan's 1975 blockbuster Deewar, in which
Rajinikanth reprised the role of Bachchan in the original. In 1982, he starred i
n Pokkiri Raja, Moondru Mugam, Thanikattu Raja, Puthukavithai and Enkeyo Ketta K
ural. Moondru Mugam had Rajinikanth playing three roles for the first time.[45]
In 1983, he starred in his first Bollywood film, Andha Kanoon, alongside Amitabh
Bachchan and Hema Malini. The film went on to become one of the highest grossin
g films of that time.[46] His 1984 film, Naan Mahaan Alla, was directed by Mutur
aman and produced by K. Balachander. He acted in his first cameo role in the fil
m Anbulla Rajinikanth.[47] He played a triple role in John Jani Janardhan. His p
erformance in Nallavanuku Nallavan earned him a Filmfare Best Tamil Actor Award.
[48] In his 100th film, Sri Raghavendra (1985), he played the Hindu saint Raghav
endra Swami.[49] His major success in Hindi films was his 101st film Bewafai. In
1985, the film Bewafai, with Rajesh Khanna as the lead hero and Rajnikanth in n
egative role, released and became asuccess and grossed Rs 11.95 crore at the box
office that year.[50]
In the second half of the 1980s, Rajinikanth acted in commercially successful fi
lms like Naan Sigappu Manithan (1985), Padikkathavan (1985), Mr. Bharath (1986),
Velaikaran (1987), Guru Sishyan (1988) and Dharmathin Thalaivan (1988). In 1988
, he made his only American film appearance in Bloodstone, directed by Dwight Li

ttle, in which he played an English-speaking Indian taxi driver.[51][52] Rajinik

anth finished the decade with films including Rajadhi Raja, Siva, Raja Chinna Ro
ja and Mappillai while also starring in a few Bollywood productions. Raja Chinna
Roja was the first Indian film to feature live action and animation.[53][54]
Commercial stardom (1990 2001)
By the 1990s, Rajinikanth established himself as a commercial entertainer. Almos
t all the films released during this period were highly successful at the box of
fice.
He began the decade with a blockbuster in Panakkaran (1990), which was a remake
of Amitabh Bachchan's 1981 film Laawaris. His next two Tamil films, the fantasy
comedy Athisaya Piravi (a remake of Chiranjeevi's 1988 film Yamudiki Mogudu) whi
ch also released in 1990 and the family drama Dharmadorai (1991), did above-aver
age business at the box office. His stint with Bollywood continued since the pas
t decade as he went on to star in more Hindi films. Hum released in 1991 saw him
doing the second main lead with Amitabh Bachchan became an inspiration for Bads
ha.[55] In 1991, he worked with Mani Ratnam in Thalapathi, which was heavily ins
pired by the Mahabharata.[56][57] in which he co-starred with actor Mammooty; th
e film dealt with the friendship between two unknown characters based on Karna a
nd Duryodhana, respectively,[56] and was set in a more contemporary milieu and w
as both critically acclaimed and successful upon release.[49] He went on to appe
ar in remakes of films from other languages, mostly from Hindi and Telugu. Annam
alai, which released in 1992, was yet another friendship centric film and was lo
osely based on the 1987 Bollywood film Khudgarz. Mannan, directed by P. Vasu and
a remake of Kannada actor Rajkumar's 1986 blockbuster Anuraga Aralithu, also re
leased in 1992 and became a box-office success. Rajinikanth wrote his first scre
enplay for the film Valli (1993), in which he also made a special appearance. He
also starred in the film Yejaman, in which he played the role of Vaanavaraayan,
a village chieftain. His romantic-comedy Veera (1994) was controversial for its
climax but went on to become one of the highest grossing films in 1994.[58]
He joined hands with Suresh Krishna for Baasha (1995), which emerged as an indus
try record,[59] and is routinely touted by fans and critics alike as a major-hit
, as the film elevated him from being just another very popular actor to nearly
a demigod status among the masses.[60] He made a cameo in Peddarayudu for his fr
iend Mohan Babu and also helped him in obtaining the remake rights. The same yea
r, he acted in yet another gangster film, Aatank Hi Aatank with Aamir Khan which
was also his last Hindi film in a major role till date. His film Muthu was anot
her commercial success, directed by K. S. Ravikumar and produced by K. Balachand
er, and became the first Tamil film to be dubbed into Japanese, as Mutu: Odoru M
aharaja.[61] The film grossed a record US$1.6 million in Japan in 1998 and was r
esponsible for creating a large Japanese fan-base for the actor.[62] Muthu's suc
cess in Japan led American news magazine Newsweek to comment in a 1999 article t
hat Rajinikanth had "supplanted Leonardo DiCaprio as Japan's trendiest heartthro
b".[63] During a visit to Japan in 2006, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh ac
knowledged the success of Muthu in the country during a speech, justifying the p
ositive relationship between the two nations.[64] He also entered Bengali cinema
through Bhagya Debata, which released at the end of 1995. 1997's Arunachalam wa
s another commercial success. Rajinikanth released his last film of the millenni
um with Padayappa (1999) which went on to become a blockbuster success. It starr
ed Ramya Krishnan and Soundarya, the former who was critically acclaimed for her
performance. It was also the last, prominent role for veteran Tamil actor Sivaj
i Ganesan.
Struggles, resurgence and acclaim (2002 10)
After a brief gap, Rajinikanth starred in Baba in 2002, for which he had also wr
itten the screenplay.[65] Released with much fanfare and hype at the time, the f
ilm featured a story revolving around the reforming of a gangster, who is reveal
ed to be the reincarnation of the Hindu saint Mahavatar Babaji, and fights again

st political corruption.[65] It fell short of market expectations and the high b

ids reportedly translated to heavy losses for the distributors. Rajinikanth hims
elf repaid the losses incurred by the distributors.[66][67] The film was receive
d with comments such as "the bloom was off the rose" and that "the gold does not
glitter any more".[68] Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) leader S. Ramadoss condemned
him for smoking and posing with beedis in the film. He was criticised for spoil
ing the Tamil youth by glorifying smoking and drinking. PMK volunteers attacked
the theatres which screened the film and usurped film rolls and burnt it.[69]
Two years later, Rajinikanth signed up for P. Vasu's Chandramukhi (2005), a rema
ke of the Malayalam film Manichitrathazhu. Upon release the film was highly succ
essful at the box-office, and in 2007 it set the record of being the longest run
ning Tamil film.[70] Chandramukhi was also dubbed in Turkish and German as Der G
eisterjger and released in the respective nations.[71] Following Chandramukhi's r
elease, it was reported that AVM Productions were set to produce a film directed
by Shankar starring Rajinikanth the largest collaboration yet for a Tamil film. T
he film was titled Sivaji and released in the summer of 2007, following two year
s of filming and production. It became the first Tamil film to be charted as one
of the "top-ten best films" of the United Kingdom and South Africa box-offices
upon release.[72][73] Rajinikanth received a salary of ?26 crore (equivalent to
?43 crore or US$6.3 million in 2016), for his role in the film, which made him t
he second highest paid actor in Asia after Jackie Chan.[74][75][76] During the p
roduction of Sivaji, Soundarya Rajinikanth announced her intention of producing
a computer-generated imagery film starring an animated version of her father tit
led Sultan: The Warrior. The film was set for release in 2008,[77][78] however i
t entered development hell and its development status would become unknown over
the next few years.[79]
"Is there anything left to be said about a man who, at 61, still manages to star
in one of the most successful films of the year, not just in the south, but acr
oss India? Superstar Rajni once again proved that he is the actor with the Midas
touch with the sci-fi flick Endhiran, where he played an ambitious scientist, a
naive robot and an evil android bent on destroying the world [...] He did it wi
th such aplomb that he's been the talk of the town for months. He might do one f
ilm in two years, but when he does, he pulls out all the stops."
Rediff.com on Rajinikanth's performance in Enthiran[80]
He worked with P. Vasu again for Kuselan, remake of the Malayalam film Kadha Par
ayumbol which was made simultaneously in Telugu as Kathanayakudu, in which Rajin
ikanth played an extended cameo role as himself, a film star in the Indian cinem
a, and as a best friend to the film's protagonist. According to Rajinikanth, the
film somewhat narrated his early life.[81] The film, however, performed poorly
at box offices and led to many distributors incurring major losses.[82] Rajinika
nth also stated that he would work with Pyramid Saimira again to compensate for
Kuselan.[83][84]
Rajinikanth at the audio release of Enthiran (2010)
Rajinikanth worked again with Shankar for the science fiction film, Enthiran.[85
] The film was released worldwide in 2010 as the most expensive Indian film ever
made, ultimately becoming the second highest-grossing film in India of its time
.[86][87][88] Rajinikanth was paid a remuneration of ?45 crore (equivalent to ?6
1 crore or US$8.9 million in 2016) for the film.[89] The film's success lead to
the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad to use the film as a case study to
analyze the business of cinema and its success story in a post-graduate elective
management course called Contemporary Film Industry: A Business Perspective. Th
e course would also study Muthu.[90]
Hospitalisation and return (2011 present)
In January 2011, Rajinikanth was slated to appear in Rana, a period film to be p
roduced by Soundarya Rajinikanth and directed by K. S. Ravikumar, who would work

with the actor for a third time.[45] During the principal photography of the fi
lm on 29 April 2011, he suffered a mild foodborne illness on the sets, which lea
d to vomiting, dehydration, and exhaustion.[91] He was treated at St. Isabel's H
ospital for a day before being discharged.[92] Five days later, he was rushed to
the same hospital again after suffering from breathlessness and fever.[93] He w
as diagnosed with bronchitis and was kept at the hospital for a week, while also
spending a few days in an intensive care unit.[94] Several conflicting reports
of discharge dates arose, as well as claims of Rajinikanth's health deterioratin
g,[95] which were continuously denied by Latha Rajinikanth. By this time, CNN-IB
N reported that "Rajinikanth dead" was one of the top trends on Twitter and most
searched term on Google in India.[96] Two days after his last discharge, Rajini
kanth was admitted to the Sri Ramachandra Medical College and Research Institute
on 16 May 2011 for recurring respiratory and gastrointestinal problems.[97] The
hospital maintained that Rajinikanth was in stable condition and showed positiv
e response to treatment.[95] It was widely reported that he required a kidney tr
ansplantation, which was later denied by Dhanush.[98] On 21 May 2011, Aishwarya
Rajinikanth released a photo of her and Rajinikanth in his hospital ward, both p
osing with a thumbs signal, responding to fans' negative reaction to news report
s.[99] The hospital restricted unauthorised visitors.[100] Rajinikanth's brother
, Sathyanarayana Rao Gaikwad, reported that the cause of the sudden illness was
due to stress from rapid weight-loss and changes in diet, as well as withdrawal
of alcohol consumption and smoking cessation.[101] After addressing fans in a 4minute digitally recorded voice message to the media, Rajinikanth, under the adv
ice of Amitabh Bachchan, travelled from Chennai to Singapore with his family on
21 May 2011, where he was to undergo further treatment for nephropathy at Mount
Elizabeth Hospital.[102][103] After spending over two weeks at the hospital, he
was finally discharged on 15 June 2011 and continued to recuperate in Singapore,
before returning to Chennai on 13 July 2011.[104][105]
Despite several failed attempts to restart Rana upon his return, Rajinikanth rep
rised his Enthiran character, Chitti, in the Bollywood science-fiction film Ra.O
ne (2011) in a guest appearance alongside Shahrukh Khan and Kareena Kapoor.[106]
In November 2011, it was decided that Rana would be shelved to make way for a n
ew project with Rajinikanth, titled Kochadaiiyaan.[107] The motion capture film,
which is the first of its kind in India, was released in 2014 to positive revie
ws.[108] Kochadaiiyaan, and the 3D release of Sivaji in 2012,[109] made Rajinika
nth the first Indian actor to have appeared in four different forms of cinema: b
lack-and-white, colour, 3D and motion capture.[110] Following the completion of
Kochadaiiyaan, Rajinikanth began work in Ravikumar's next directorial venture, t
itled Lingaa alongside Anushka Shetty and Sonakshi Sinha.[111][112] The film was
released on 12 December 2014, coinciding with his birthday,[113] and received m
ixed reviews from critics.[114] Rajinikanth's next film, a mob film titled Kabal
i, was confirmed in May 2015 to be directed by Pa. Ranjith and produced by S. Th
anu.[115]
Image and influence
Culture
Rajinikanth has often been referred to as the most popular film actor in South I
ndia by the media and fans.[42][116][117] His popularity has been attributed to
"his uniquely styled dialogues and idiosyncrasies in films, as well as his polit
ical statements and philanthropy".[118] Many also cite reasons for Rajinikanth's
popularity as coming from his larger-than-life super-hero appearance in many fi
lms, supported by gravity-defying stunts and charismatic expressions, all while
attempting to maintain modesty in real-life.[119] Almost every film of Rajinikan
th has punchlines delivered by him in an inimitable style, and these punchlines
often have a message or even to warn the film's antagonists. These dialogues are
usually fabricated to create new ones or even taken in a comical way, but do no
t fail to create a sense of entertainment among viewers.[120][121] It is suggest
ed by the media that actresses such as Gouthami and Nayanthara got their initial
breakthrough after co-starring with Rajinikanth very early in their careers, gi

ving other aspiring actors the urge to work with him.[122][123]

Rajinikanth is also the only Indian actor to be featured in the Central Board of
Secondary Education (CBSE) syllabus, in a lesson titled From Bus Conductor to S
uperstar.[124] After opening his first official Twitter account in 2014, Rajinik
anth received over 210,000 followers within 24-hours, which according to The Eco
nomic Times was deemed by social media research firms as the fastest rate of fol
lowers for any Indian celebrity, as well as among the top-10 in the world.[125]
Much like Chuck Norris facts, "Rajinikanth facts" or "Rajinikanth jokes" are wid
ely circulated in text messages and memes over the Internet.[14] These satirical
jokes have also inspired several mobile applications for iOS and Android.[126][
127][128]
Politics
Critics, such as Cho Ramaswamy, have commented that Rajinikanth has the potentia
l to be successful in Indian politics due to his popularity and fan base alone.
In 1995, Rajinikanth began supporting the Indian National Congress after meeting
Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao. An opinion poll conducted by the magazine K
umudam predicted that Congress with Rajinikanth's support might win up to 130 se
ats in Tamil Nadu Assembly. In 1996, when the Congress Party decided to align wi
th All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) for the assembly election i
n Tamil Nadu, Rajinikanth changed loyalties and supported Dravida Munnetra Kazha
gam (DMK)-Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC) alliance. The TMC used a bicycle as their
election symbol and used an image of Rajinikanth riding a bicycle from the film
Annamalai in their posters. Rajinikanth said, "Even God cannot save Tamil Nadu
if AIADMK returns to power." Rajinikanth wholeheartedly supported the DMK and TM
C alliance and asked the people of Tamil Nadu and his fans to vote for that alli
ance. This alliance had a complete victory in 1996. Rajinikanth also supported t
he DMK-TMC alliance in the parliamentary election held the same year.[129] Later
in 2004, Rajinikanth said he would personally vote for the Bharatiya Janata Par
ty (BJP) but would not extend his support to any front during the upcoming India
n general election.[130] The party however failed to win any seats in Tamil Nadu
in the Lok Sabha.[131]
Fans of Rajinikanth in Tamil Nadu have continuously speculated his entry in poli
tics, particularly to run for Chief Minister of the state. In 2008, a few fans i
n Coimbatore launched a political party for Rajinikanth, in an attempt to pressu
re his entry. The party was named the "Desiya Dravadar Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam"
, with a dedicated party flag and symbol.[132] After learning about this, Rajini
kanth submitted an open letter to the media, declaring that he had no connection
with these events and requested fans not to indulge in such activities, warning
that he would take legal action if they failed to adhere. He also mentioned tha
t he was not interested in politics and thus was only committed to working in fi
lms. He added that nobody can force him to enter politics, just as no one can st
op him from entering it.[133]
Personal life
Family
Rajinikanth married Latha Rangachari, a student of Ethiraj College for Women, wh
o interviewed him for her college magazine.[51][134] The marriage took place on
26 February 1981, in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh.[135] The couple have two daughter
s named Aishwarya Rajinikanth and Soundarya Rajinikanth. Latha runs a school nam
ed "The Ashram".
Aishwarya married actor Dhanush on 18 November 2004 and they have two sons, Yath
ra and Linga.[136][137] His younger daughter, Soundarya, works in the Tamil film
industry as a director, producer and graphic designer. She married industrialis
t Ashwin Ramkumar on 3 September 2010.[138]
Views

Rajinikanth is a follower of Hinduism, spiritualism, and a strong believer of sp

irituality.[139] He is also a practitioner of yoga and meditation. Rajinikanth h
as religiously visited major Hindu temples prior to the release of each of his f
ilms; for instance he visited the Tirumala Venkateswara Temple before the releas
e of Sivaji in 2007 and visited Sathya Sai Baba at Prasanthi Nilayam in Andhra P
radesh before the release of Kuselan the following year.[140] He also occasional
ly leaves for pilgrimage to the Himalayas.[141] He has often referred to Ramakri
shna Paramahamsa,[142] Swami Satchidananda, Ragavendra Swami,[143] Mahavatar Bab
aji,[144] and Ramana Maharishi[142] as his favourite spiritual leaders.
Controversies
Unbalanced scales.svg
This article's Criticism or Controversy section may compromise the artic
le's neutral point of view of the subject. Please integrate the section's conten
ts into the article as a whole, or rewrite the material. (January 2016)
In 2002, Rajinikanth undertook a daylong fast to protest the Government of Karna
taka's decision to not release Kaveri River water into Tamil Nadu and announced
that he would contribute ?10 million (US$150,000) toward a plan to interlink Ind
ian rivers.[145] He met with Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and many
experts to canvass support for the project.[146] His hunger strike was independ
ent of the Nadigar Sangam, who organised their own solidarity protest for the sa
me cause. Film director Bharathi Raja lashed out against Rajinikanth, alleging h
im of dividing the film industry and saying that he was a "traitor who had a tac
it understanding with the Karnataka government".[147]
In 2008, Rajinikanth took part in a hunger strike organised by the Nadigar Sanga
m against Karnataka's stance on the Hogenakkal Falls water dispute. In his speec
h, which was well received in Tamil Nadu, he warned leaders not to inflame the w
ater project issue for political gains and requested that the issue should be re
solved soon. He reprimanded politicians in Karnataka and urged them "to speak th
e truth" to the public. "They cannot be fooled and will not remain silent if you
continue to act in such manner," he stated.[148] The speech led to Vatal Nagara
j, leader of the Kannada nationalist group Kannada Chaluvali Vatal Paksha, deman
ding an apology from Rajinikanth and threatening that he and his films would be
boycotted from the state of Karnataka.[149] The threats were echoed by other pro
-Kannada organisations, such as the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike.[149] In a move to
save the market of Tamil cinema in Karnataka and ensure welfare of Tamil Nadu-b
ased filmmakers, Rajinikanth apologised for his statements in a brief media appe
arance on TV9 Kannada.[149] He later thanked the Kannada film industry for allow
ing the release of Kuselan and lifting the ban the industry had briefly imposed
on it. This led to strong reactions from Nadigar Sangam members R. Sarathkumar,
Sathyaraj and Radha Ravi, who called the apology a disgrace to Tamils and opined
that his speech never provoked the sentiments of the Kannada people.[150]
Rajinikanth's support toward fellow actor Ajith Kumar, who in 2010 condemned the
forceful inclusion of Tamil cinema personae in political affairs, broke into a
controversy.[151]
Philanthropy
According to Naman Ramachandran, the author of Rajinikanth: The Definitive Biogr
aphy, most of Rajinikanth's philanthropic activities went unpublicised because h
e did not want them to be so. Rajinikanth has given away half of his income to c
harities.[152] In the 1980s, when superstitious beliefs prevented a majority of
people from donating eyes, Rajinikanth took the case of campaigning in support o
f corneal transplantation via television and public speeches.[153] In 2011, Raji
nikanth announced his support for the anti-corruption movement led by Gandhian A
nna Hazare and offered his marriage hall, the Raghavendra Kalyana Mandapam, in C
hennai free of cost for the India Against Corruption members to hold their fast.
[154][155] Rajinikanth's fan associations regularly organise blood donation and

eye donation camps and distribute food during his birthday.[156]

Awards and honours
Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Rajinikanth
Rajinikanth has received numerous awards for many of his films mostly in Tamil.
He received his first Filmfare Award for Best Tamil Actor in 1984 for Nallavanuk
u Nallavan.[48] Later he received Filmfare Award nominations for his performance
s in Sivaji (2007) and Enthiran (2010). As of 2014, Rajinikanth has received six
Tamil Nadu State Film Awards for his performances in various films.[157][158] H
e also received numerous awards from Cinema Express and Filmfans' Association fo
r his on-screen performances and off-screen contributions in writing and produci
ng.[157]
Rajinikanth received the Kalaimamani award in 1984 and the M. G. R. Award in 198
9, both from the Government of Tamil Nadu. In 1995, the South Indian Film Artist
es' Association presented him with the Kalaichelvam Award. He was honoured with
the Padma Bhushan (2000) and the Padma Vibhushan (2016) by the Government of Ind
ia.[159][160] He was selected as the Indian Entertainer of the Year for 2007 by
NDTV, competing against the likes of Shahrukh Khan.[161][162] The Government of
Maharashtra honoured him with the Raj Kapoor Award the same year. He received th
e Chevalier Sivaji Ganesan Award for Excellence in Indian Cinema at the 4th Vija
y Awards.[163] Rajinikanth was also named one of the most influential persons in
South Asia by Asiaweek.[2][164] He was also named by Forbes India as the most i
nfluential Indian of the year 2010.[165] In 2011, he was awarded the Entertainer
of the Decade Award by NDTV for the year 2010 by the then Indian Minister for H
ome Affairs P. Chidambaram.[166] In December 2013, he was honoured by NDTV as on
e among the "25 Greatest Global Living Legends".[167] In 2014, he was presented
with the "Centenary Award for Indian Film Personality of the Year" at the 45th I
nternational Film Festival of India held at Goa.[168][169]
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Ramachandran, Naman (2012). Rajinikanth: The Definitive Biography. Penguin B
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Further reading
Krishnamoorthy, Raja (2012). Rajini's Punchtantra: Business and Life Managem
ent the Rajinikanth Way. Rupa & Co. p. 124. ISBN 9788129119995.

Ramakrishnan, Ram N (2012). Grand Brand Rajini: Brand Management the Rajinik
anth Way. Rupa Publications India. p. 149. ISBN 9788129120595.
A.N.Prahlada Rao, ANP (2013). Nanna Daari Vibhinna Daari: Rajanikanth Kannad
a. Nava Bharat Publication Bangalore. p. 120.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rajinikanth.
Wikiquote has quotations related to: Rajinikanth
Rajinikanth at the Internet Movie Database
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v t e
Padma Bhushan awards
1954 59 1960 69 1970 79 1980 89 1990 99 2000 09 2010 19
v t e
Padma Vibhushan award recipients
Arts
Ebrahim Alkazi Kishori Amonkar Amitabh Bachchan M. Balamuralikrishna T. Bala
saraswati Asha Bhosle Nandalal Bose Hariprasad Chaurasia Kumar Gandharva Adoor G
opalakrishnan Satish Gujral Gangubai Hangal Bhupen Hazarika M. F. Husain Semmang
udi Srinivasa Iyer Bhimsen Joshi Ali Akbar Khan Amjad Ali Khan Allauddin Khan Bi
smillah Khan Dilip Kumar R. K. Laxman Birju Maharaj Kishan Maharaj Lata Mangeshk
ar Sonal Mansingh Mallikarjun Mansur Zubin Mehta Mario Miranda Kelucharan Mohapa
tra Raghunath Mohapatra Jasraj Motiram Benode Behari Mukherjee Hrishikesh Mukher
jee Ram Narayan D. K. Pattammal K. Shankar Pillai Akkineni Nageswara Rao Kaloji
Narayana Rao Satyajit Ray S. H. Raza Zohra Sehgal Uday Shankar Ravi Shankar V. S
hantaram Shivkumar Sharma Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman M. S. Subbulakshmi K. G. Subr
amanyan Kapila Vatsyayan Homai Vyarawalla Yamini Krishnamurthy Rajinikanth
Civil Service
Bimala Prasad Chaliha Naresh Chandra T. N. Chaturvedi Jayanto Nath Chaudhuri
Suranjan Das Rajeshwar Dayal Basanti Devi P. N. Dhar Jyotindra Nath Dixit M. S.
Gill Hafiz Mohamad Ibrahim H. V. R. Iyengar Bhola Nath Jha Dattatraya Shridhar
Joshi Ajudhia Nath Khosla Rai Krishnadasa V. Krishnamurthy P. Prabhakar Kumarama
ngalam Pratap Chandra Lal K. B. Lall Sam Manekshaw Om Prakash Mehra Mohan Sinha
Mehta M. G. K. Menon Brajesh Mishra Sumati Morarjee A. Ramasamy Mudaliar Sardari
lal Mathradas Nanda Chakravarthi V. Narasimhan Braj Kumar Nehru Bhairab Dutt Pan
de Ghananand Pande Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit T. V. Rajeswar C. R. Krishnaswamy Rao P
attadakal Venkanna R Rao V. K. R. V. Rao Khusro Faramurz Rustamji Harish Chandra
Sarin Binay Ranjan Sen Homi Sethna Arjan Singh Harbaksh Singh Kirpal Singh Manm
ohan Singh Tarlok Singh Lallan Prasad Singh Balaram Sivaraman Chandrika Prasad S
rivastava T. Swaminathan Arun Shridhar Vaidya Dharma Vira Narinder Nath Vohra
Literature, Education and Journalism
V. S. R. Arunachalam Jagdish Bhagwati Satyendra Nath Bose Tara Chand Suniti
Kumar Chatterji D. P. Chattopadhyaya Bhabatosh Datta Mahasweta Devi John Kenneth
Galbraith Sarvepalli Gopal Lakshman Shastri Joshi Kaka Kalelkar Dhondo Keshav K
arve Gopinath Kaviraj Kuvempu O. N. V. Kurup Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis Sitaka
nt Mahapatra John Mathai Kotha Satchidanda Murthy Giani Gurmukh Singh Musafir Ba

santi Dulal Nagchaudhuri Bal Ram Nanda R. K. Narayan Amrita Pritam K. N. Raj C.
Rangarajan Raja Rao Hormasji Maneckji Seervai Rajaram Shastri Kalu Lal Shrimali
Govindbhai Shroff Khushwant Singh Chandeshwar Prasad Narayan Singh Premlila Vith
aldas Thackersey Mahadevi Varma Bashir Hussain Zaidi Ramoji Rao
Medicine
Jasbir Singh Bajaj B. K. Goyal Purshotam Lal A. Lakshmanaswami Mudaliar S. I
. Padmavati Autar Singh Paintal Kantilal Hastimal Sancheti Balu Sankaran Vithal
Nagesh Shirodkar Prakash Narain Tandon Brihaspati Dev Triguna M. S. Valiathan
Other
Sunderlal Bahuguna B. K. S. Iyengar Rambhadracharya
Public Affairs
L. K. Advani Montek Singh Ahluwalia Aruna Asaf Ali Fazal Ali Adarsh Sein Ana
nd Madhav Shrihari Aney Parkash Singh Badal Sikander Bakht Milon K. Banerji Mirz
a Hameedullah Beg P. N. Bhagwati Raja Chelliah Chandra Kisan Daphtary Niren De C
. D. Deshmukh Anthony Lancelot Dias Uma Shankar Dikshit Kazi Lhendup Dorjee P. B
. Gajendragadkar Benjamin A. Gilman Zakir Husain V. R. Krishna Iyer Lakshmi Chan
d Jain Aditya Nath Jha Mehdi Nawaz Jung Ali Yavar Jung Vijay Kelkar Hans Raj Kha
nna V. N. Khare Balasaheb Gangadhar Kher Akhlaqur Rahman Kidwai Jivraj Narayan M
ehta V. K. Krishna Menon Hirendranath Mukherjee Ajoy Mukherjee Pranab Mukherjee
Padmaja Naidu Gulzarilal Nanda Govind Narain Fali Sam Nariman Hosei Norota Nanab
hoy Palkhivala K. Parasaran Hari Vinayak Pataskar Naryana Raghvan Pillai Sri Pra
kasa N. G. Ranga Ravi Narayana Reddy Y. Venugopal Reddy Ghulam Mohammed Sadiq La
kshmi Sahgal M. C. Setalvad Karan Singh Nagendra Singh Swaran Singh Walter Sisul
u Kalyan Sundaram Chandulal Madhavlal Trivedi Atal Bihari Vajpayee M. N. Venkata
chaliah Kottayan Katankot Venugopal Jigme Dorji Wangchuck V Shanta
Science and Engineering
Salim Ali Norman Borlaug Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar Rajagopala Chidambaram C
harles Correa Satish Dhawan Anil Kakodkar A. P. J. Abdul Kalam Krishnaswamy Kast
urirangan Har Gobind Khorana Daulat Singh Kothari Verghese Kurien Raghunath Anan
t Mashelkar G. Madhavan Nair Roddam Narasimha Jayant Narlikar Rajendra K. Pachau
ri Benjamin Peary Pal Yash Pal I. G. Patel Venkatraman Ramakrishnan K. R. Ramana
than Raja Ramanna C. R. Rao C. N. R. Rao Palle Rama Rao Vikram Sarabhai Man Moha
n Sharma Obaid Siddiqi E. Sreedharan M. R. Srinivasan George Sudarshan M. S. Swa
minathan
Social Work
Baba Amte Pandurang Shastri Athavale Janaki Devi Bajaj Mirabehn Kamaladevi C
hattopadhyay Durgabai Deshmukh Nanaji Deshmukh Nirmala Deshpande Mohan Dharia U.
N. Dhebar Valerian Gracias Veerendra Heggade Mary Clubwala Jadhav Gaganvihari L
allubhai Mehta Usha Mehta Sister Nirmala Nellie Sengupta
Sports
Viswanathan Anand Edmund Hillary Sachin Tendulkar
Trade and Industry
Ghanshyam Das Birla Ashok Sekhar Ganguly Karim Al Hussaini Aga Khan Lakshmi
Mittal N. R. Narayana Murthy M. Narasimham Prithvi Raj Singh Oberoi Azim Premji
Prathap C. Reddy J. R. D. Tata Ratan Tata Dhirubhai Ambani

Portal Portal Category Category WikiProject WikiProject

v t e
Filmfare Award for Best Tamil Actor
1972 1989
Sivaji Ganesan (1972) Sivaji Ganesan (1973) Gemini Ganesan (1974) Kamal Haas
an (1975) Kamal Haasan (1976) Kamal Haasan (1977) Kamal Haasan (1978) Sivakumar
(1979) Sivakumar (1980) Kamal Haasan (1981) Mohan (1982) Bhagyaraj (1983) Rajini
kanth (1984) Sivaji Ganesan (1985) Vijayakanth (1986) Sathyaraj (1987) Karthik (
1988) Karthik (1989)
1990 2009
Karthik (1990) Kamal Haasan (1991) Kamal Haasan (1992) Karthik
Kumar (1994) Kamal Haasan (1995) Kamal Haasan (1996) Sarath Kumar
Kumar (1998) Ajith Kumar (1999) Kamal Haasan (2000) Vikram (2001)
2002) Vikram (2003) Suriya (2004) Vikram (2005) Ajith Kumar (2006)
Suriya (2008) Prakash Raj (2009)

(1993) Sarath
(1997) Sarath
Ajith Kumar (
Karthi (2007)

2010 2019
Vikram (2010) Dhanush (2011) Dhanush (2012) Atharvaa (2013) Dhanush (2014)
v t e
Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actor
1967 1980
A. V. M. Rajan
Ganesan (1970) no
no award (1975) no
1979) Kamal Haasan

(1967) M. G. Ramachandran (1968) Sivaji Ganesan (1969) Gemini

award (1971) no award (1972) no award (1973) no award (1974)
award (1976) Kamal Haasan (1977) Sreekanth (1978) Sivakumar (
(1980)

1981 2000
Kamal Haasan (1981) Sivakumar (1982) no award (1983) no award (1984) no awar
d (1985) no award (1986) no award (1987) Vijayakanth (1988) Kamal Haasan (1989)
Karthik (1990) Prabhu (1991) Kamal Haasan (1992) Arjun (1993) Sarathkumar (1994)
Rajinikanth (1995) Kamal Haasan (1996) Parthiban & Vijay (1997) Sarathkumar (19
98) Rajinikanth (1999) Murali (2000)
2001 present
Suriya (2001) Madhavan (2002) Vikram (2003) Jayam Ravi (2004) Rajinikanth (2
005) Kamal Haasan (2006) Rajinikanth (2007) Kamal Haasan (2008)
v t e
Don franchise
Films
Hindi
Don (1978) Don (2006) Don 2 (2011)
Telugu

Yugandhar (1979) Billa (2009)

Tamil
Billa (1980) Billa (2007) Billa II (2012)
Malayalam
Shobaraj (1986)
Soundtracks
Don (2006) Don 2 (2011) Billa II (2012)
Comics
Don: The Origin
Games
Don

The Social Mobsters Game Don 2: The King is Back

Related
China Town (1962) Kudiyirundha Koyil (1968) Bhale Thammudu (1969)
Authority control
WorldCat VIAF: 95080136 LCCN: n84109545 GND: 138379629
Categories:
1950 birthsIndian male film actorsLiving peoplePeople from BangaloreRecipien
ts of the Padma BhushanRecipients of the Padma VibhushanMale actors in Tamil cin
emaMale actors in Hindi cinemaMale actors in Kannada cinemaTamil screenwritersMa
le actors in Malayalam cinemaIndian film producersMale actors in Telugu cinemaTa
mil Nadu State Film Awards winnersFilmfare Awards South winnersFilm and Televisi
on Institute of Tamil Nadu alumniMarathi peoplePseudonymous artists20th-century
Indian male actors21st-century Indian male actors
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