Masterpiece Rajini

Rajinikanth (Marathi: रजनीकांत;Tamil: ரஜினிகாந்த்; Kannada: ರಜನೀಕಾಂತ್) (born Shivaji Rao Gaekwad on December 12, 1949) is an Indian actor, and one of the most prominent actor in the Indian film industry. He received India's third highest honour, the Padma Bhushan, for his work in Indian cinema in 2000[2]. Rajinikanth is at ease playing roles in comedies, drama, action and thrillers.

Early life
Rajinikanth was born to a Maratha Family in Bangalore, Karnataka. He was the fourth child of his parents, Jijabai and Ramoji Rao[1]. He was named Shivaji Rao Gaekwad. He lost his mother at the age of five. He did his schooling at the Acharya Pathshala in Bangalore and then at the Vivekananda Balak Sangh, a unit of the Ramakrishna Mission. Rajnikanth struggled a lot during his early age because of poverty. Although his native tongue is Marathi, he has not acted in any Marathi movies yet.

Personal
Rajinikanth married Latha on February 26, 1981, at Thirupathi and they have two children: Aishwarya and Soundarya. Latha is currently the principal of a school named - The Ashram. Aishwarya married actor Dhanush on November 18, 2004 and they have a 6 month old son, Yathra.

[edit] Acting career
For more details on this topic, see Rajinikanth filmography.
He joined the Madras Film institute in 1973 with the help of a friend and completed a basic course in acting.[5]

[edit] 1975-1979
In Tamil cinema he was initially cast in supporting roles, the first being that of a cancer patient in Apoorva Raagangal (1975), directed by K. Balachander. However, his first film was in kannada, Katha Sangama directed by Puttanna kanagal (1975). It was Balachander who assigned him his stage name Rajinikanth. Though Rajinikanth persistently refers to K. Balachander as his "guru" or mentor, it was director S. P. Muthuraman who actually revamped Rajinikanth’s image entirely. Muthuraman first experimented with him in a positive role in Bhuvana Oru Kelvikkuri (1977), as a villain in the first half and a do-gooder in the second, accepting a woman with a child abandoned by her lover.Around this time Mullum Malarum (1978), directed by J. Mahendran, established Rajinikanth on the Tamil film arena. The success of Bhuvana Oru Kelvikkuri prompted Muthuraman to make a mushy melodrama with Rajinikanth as a hero sacrificing everything for his siblings in Aarilirunthu Arubathu Varai (1979). Even while the film was in the making, Rajinikanth had misgivings about whether the audience would accept him in tear jerkers of this kind. But its box-office success made Rajinikanth popular among women audience. These films were the turning points in Rajinikanth’s career — he changed from an actor who merely enthralled the audiences, to one who could also make them cry. The acceptance of Rajinikanth sans his mannerisms proved he had at last become an "star" from a "common actor."
His film roles were mainly as a villain during the period 1975 to 1977, frequently with Kamal Hassan as the hero, in movies like 16 Vayadhinilae and Avargal (both 1977).

[edit] 1980-1989
At this crucial phase in his career when he was reaching dizzying heights, Rajinikanth abruptly chose to quit acting, but was coaxed back[5]. As an answer to critics who were claiming that "Rajini was finished" came Billa, which was a remake of Amitabh Bachchan starrer Don. With its phenomenal success he was accepted as a full-fledged hero. Billa was followed by a row of hits like Murattukaalai,Pokkiri Raja, Thanikattu Raja, Naan Mahaan Alla and Moondru Mugam. Even two decades after its release, the latter continues to be a box-office draw. K. Balachander’s first home production, Netrikan proved to be yet another milestone in Rajini’s career. . He even acted as himself alongside Meena, who was a child actor then, in the movie Anbulla Rajinikanth (1984) In his 100th movie, Sri Raghavendra, he played the Hindu saint Raghavendra Swami.

[edit] 1990-Present
Unlike the eighties, several of his movies during the nineties were successful, like Mannan,Padayappa,Muthu[6] and Baashha. Rajinikanth wrote his first screenplay for the film Valli (1993), and said to the media that it would be his last film (in writing screenplay). His film Muthu was the first Tamil film to be dubbed into Japanese as Muthu: The Dancing Maharajah and became very popular in Japan.[7][8] When he was 53, his Baba released amidst much fanfare. Although the film grossed enough to cover its budget, it was viewed as a miserable showing and fell short of market expectations and high bids accumulating heavy losses for the distributors. Rajinikanth himself repaid the losses incurred by the distributors who had immense faith in him.[9][10] His latest film, Sivaji: The Boss, directed by S. Shankar released on June 15, 2007, has become the first Tamil movie to make the UK and South Africa Top 10 Charts. Rajnikanth will now be lending his voice to the lead character (based on himself) in an animation film for Adlabs titled Sultan:The Warrior to be directed by his daughter Soundarya Rajinikanth. The movie is scheduled for a 2008 release. It is also said that Rajinikanth will be working with Mani Ratnam for his next venture with also has Kamal Haasan in the lead. Reports also said that Kamal Haasan would be producing the film.

[edit] Other work
Apart from Tamil, Rajinikanth has acted in over 160 movies, including Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Hindi and Bengali movies. Rajinikanth made a foray into Bollywood with Andha Kanoon but couldn't make as much of an impact as he had in the south. He still made a few films in Hindi, like Chaalbaaz with Sridevi, 'Uttar Dakshin', Hum. He also had a brief stint in Hollywood with the movie Bloodstone in 1988. And also he is the first person to act in a Hollywood film Bloodstone

[edit] Awards and honours
Rajinikanth was named as one of the influential persons in South Asia by Asiaweek.[11] He has won the Filmfare Best Actor award and many awards during his career for his acting.[12]
In the years between 1977 and 2005 Rajinikanth has received awards from many organizations, like Cinema Express, Filmfans Association, Filmfare etc., for his on-screen performances and off-screen abilities in writing and producing. He has received awards in the Best Actor category for his performance in the films Padayappa, Peddarayudu, Basha, Muthu, Annamalai, Thalapathy, Velaikaran, Sri Raghavendra, Nallavanuku Nallavan, Moondru Mugam, Enkeyo Ketta Kural, Aarilirunthu Arubathu Varai, Mullum Malarum and 16 Vayathinile. He received award for Best Actor in Supporting Role for Bhuvana Oru Kelvi Kuri. He has also received awards in Best Story Writer and Best Producer categories for Valli.
He has also received other honours such as Raj Kapoor Award (2007) from the Government of Maharastra, Padma Bhushan (2000)[2] from Government of India, Kalaichelvam Award (1995) from the Nadigar Sangam, Oshobismit Award (1995) for Spirituality from Rajinish Ashram, MGR Award (1989) and Kalaimamani Award (1984) from the Government of Tamilnadu.