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Rajinikanth Biography, Early Life, Movies, Career & Family Details
Also known as: Rajinikanth, Thalaiva, Coolie, Superstar
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Who is Rajinikanth?
Rajinikanth, whose real name is Shivaji Rao Gaikwad, is a famous Indian actor. He is loved for his unique style, powerful screen presence, and famous one-liner dialogues. Rajinikanth has worked in more than 170 movies in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, Bengali and Malayalam. He is widely known as one of the most successful and popular actors in the history of Indian cinema.
Rajinikanth started his acting career with Apoorva Raagangal (1975) in Tamil, Katha Sangama (1976) in Kannada, Anthuleni Katha (1976) in Telugu and Andha Kanoon (1983) in Hindi.
In 2017, Rajinikanth announced his entry into politics and formed the Rajini Makkal Mandram (RMM) to take part in the 2021 Tamil Nadu Assembly Election. But in July 2021, he dissolved the organisation due to health issues and said he had no future political plans, turning it back into a welfare group for his fans.
The Government of India honoured Rajinikanth with the Padma Vibhushan in 2016 and the Padma Bhushan in 2000. In 2019, he was also awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the highest honour in Indian cinema.
Career Highlights
Personal Life
Early Life of Rajinikanth
Rajinikanth was born on 12 December 1950 in Bangalore, Mysore State (now Karnataka) in a Marathi family. His father, Ramoji Rao Gaekwad, worked as a police constable, and his mother Jijabai was a homemaker. She passed away when Rajnikanth was just nine years old.
Rajinikanth is the youngest of four siblings. he has two elder brothers, Satyanarayana Rao and Nageshwara Rao, and one elder sister, Aswath Balubhai.
He completed his early schooling at Gavipuram Government Kannada Model Primary School in Bangalore till Class 6. Later, he studied at Acharya Pathasala Public School, where he finished his pre-university course.
Before starting his acting journey, Rajinikanth worked as a coolie and also as a bus conductor in the Bangalore Transport Service (BTS). later, he joined the Madras Film Institute to learn acting. There, he met Tamil film director K. Balachander, who advised him to learn Tamil and gave him his first important role in a Tamil film.
