Rajinikanth, Shivaji Rao Gaekwad, Indian film actor, media personality, Super Star Rajinikanth
Rajinikanth was born on 12 December 1950, in a Marathi family to his mother Ramabai, a housewife, and Ramoji Rao Gaekwad, a police constable, in Bangalore, Mysore State (present day Karnataka). He was named Shivaji Rao Gaekwad after Chhatrapati Shivaji, a Maratha warrior King, and was brought up speaking Marathi at home and Kannada outside. Rajinikanth's ancestors hailed from a village called Mavdi Kade Pathar, near Jejuri a part of the Purandar taluka of the present-day Pune district, Maharashtra. He is the youngest of four siblings in a family consisting of two elder brothers, Satyanarayana Rao & Nageshwara Rao and a sister, Aswath Balubhai. 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. When he was nine years old, he lost his mother.
Acting career
Rajinikanth began his film career through the Tamil film Apoorva Raagangal (1975). Balachander gave Rajinikanth a relatively small role as an abusive husband of Srividya. The film was controversial upon release as it explored relationships between people with wide age differences. However, it received wide critical acclaim as it went on to win three National Film Awards including the award for the Best Tamil Feature at the following year ceremony. A review from The Hindu noted that, "Newcomer Rajinikanth is dignified and impressive".In 1978, Rajinikanth went on to star in 20 different films across Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada. Bairavi released in the same year was the first Tamil film to cast Rajinikanth as a main hero directed by M.Bhaskar. It was in this film he earned the sobriquet "Superstar". S. Thanu who was one of the film's distributor placed a cut-out of Rajinikanth over a height of 35 feet (11 m). His next appearance Ilamai Oonjal Aadukirathu, a quadrangular love story made by C. V. Sridhar, saw him playing the role of a man who sacrifices his love for his friend, played by Kamal Haasan. Mullum Malarum that released during the same period received critical acclaim. The film marked the directional debut of J. Mahendran, had the screenplay adapted from a novel of the same name published in Kalki. It eventually won the Filmfare Award for Best Tamil Film and Rajinikanth a special prize for Best Actor at the Tamil Nadu State Film Awards. Rajinikanth had acted in 50 films over a period of four years and spanning across four languages.
By 1980, he became a popular actor in the South Indian cinema. During this phase of his career, Rajinikanth abruptly chose to quit acting, but was coaxed back. He made a comeback with the Tamil film Billa, which was a remake of the Bollywood film Don (1978).He acted in Thillu Mullu directed by K. Balachander, which was Rajinikanth's first full-length comedy. 1981 also saw the release 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 in Pokkiri Raja, Moondru Mugam, Thanikattu Raja, Puthukavithai and Enkeyo Ketta Kural. Moondru Mugam had Rajinikanth playing three roles for the first time.
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 grossing films of that time.His performance in Nallavanuku Nallavan earned him a Filmfare Best Tamil Actor Award. In his 100th film, Sri Raghavendra (1985), he played the Hindu saint Raghavendra Swami. 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 negative role, released and became asuccess and grossed Rs 11.95 crore at the box office that year.
Image and influence
His popularity has been attributed to "his uniquely styled dialogues and idiosyncrasies in films, as well as his political statements and philanthropy". Many also cite reasons for Rajinikanth's popularity as coming from his larger-than-life super-hero appearance in many films, supported by gravity-defying stunts and charismatic expressions, all while attempting to maintain modesty in real-life.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 Superstar. After opening his first official Twitter account in 2014, Rajinikanth received over 210,000 followers within 24-hours, which according to The Economic Times was deemed by social media research firms as the fastest rate of followers for any Indian celebrity, as well as among the top-10 in the world.
Politics
Critics, such as Cho Ramaswamy, have commented that Rajinikanth has the potential 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 Kumudam predicted that Congress with Rajinikanth's support might win up to 130 seats in Tamil Nadu Assembly. In 1996, when the Congress Party decided to align with All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) for the assembly election in Tamil Nadu, Rajinikanth changed loyalties and supported Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (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 TMC alliance and asked the people of Tamil Nadu and his fans to vote for that alliance. This alliance had a complete victory in 1996. Rajinikanth also supported the DMK-TMC alliance in the parliamentary election held the same year. Later in 2004, Rajinikanth said he would personally vote for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) but would not extend his support to any front during the upcoming Indian general election. The party however failed to win any seats in Tamil Nadu in the Lok Sabha.Fans of Rajinikanth in Tamil Nadu have continuously speculated his entry in politics, particularly to run for Chief Minister of the state. In 2008, a few fans in Coimbatore launched a political party for Rajinikanth, in an attempt to pressure his entry. The party was named the "Desiya Dravadar Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam", with a dedicated party flag and symbol. After learning about this, Rajinikanth 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 that he was not interested in politics and thus was only committed to working in films. He added that nobody can force him to enter politics, just as no one can stop him from entering it.
Awards and honours
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 Nallavanuku Nallavan. Later he received Filmfare Award nominations for his performances in Sivaji (2007) and Enthiran (2010). As of 2014, Rajinikanth has received six Tamil Nadu State Film Awards for his performances in various films. He also received numerous awards from Cinema Express and Filmfans' Association for his on-screen performances and off-screen contributions in writing and producing.Rajinikanth received the Kalaimamani award in 1984 and the M. G. R. Award in 1989, both from the Government of Tamil Nadu. In 1995, the South Indian Film Artistes' Association presented him with the Kalaichelvam Award. He was honoured with the Padma Bhushan (2000) and the Padma Vibhushan (2016) by the Government of India. He was selected as the Indian Entertainer of the Year for 2007 by NDTV, competing against the likes of Shahrukh Khan. The Government of Maharashtra honoured him with the Raj Kapoor Award the same year. He received the Chevalier Sivaji Ganesan Award for Excellence in Indian Cinema at the 4th Vijay Awards. Rajinikanth was also 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. In 2011, he was awarded the Entertainer of the Decade Award by NDTV for the year 2010 by the then Indian Minister for Home Affairs P. Chidambaram. In December 2013, he was honoured by NDTV as one among the "25 Greatest Global Living Legends". In 2014, he was presented with the "Centenary Award for Indian Film Personality of the Year" at the 45th International Film Festival of India held at Goa.
