Rajinikanth

Rajinikanth, life and biography

Rajinikanth (born Shivaji Rao Gaekwad; 12 December 1950) is an Indian actor, producer and screenwriter who works predominantly in Tamil cinema. Rajinikanth has won many awards, including four Tamil Nadu State Film Best Actor Awards and a Filmfare Best Tamil Actor Award. The Government of India has honoured him with the Padma Bhushan (2000) and the Padma Vibhushan (2016). Rajinikanth received the Chevalier Sivaji Ganesan Award for Excellence in Indian Cinema at the 4th Vijay Awards. At the 45th International Film Festival of India (2014), Rajinikanth was conferred with the "Centenary Award for Indian Film Personality of the Year". At the 50th edition of the International Film Festival of India (2019), Rajinikanth was honoured with the Icon of Global Jubilee award. Rajinikanth is the second-highest grossing actor in Tamil cinema history, behind M. G. Ramachandran. At the 67th National Film Awards, Rajinikanth was awarded India's highest award in the field of cinema, Dadasaheb Phalke Award.

Following his debut in K. Balachander's 1975 Tamil drama Apoorva Raagangal, Rajinikanth's acting career commenced with a brief phase of portraying antagonistic characters in Tamil films. The Suresh Krissna-directed Baashha (1995) in which Rajinikanth played a crime boss, was a major commercial success in his career and earned him a 'god-like' status in Tamil Nadu. Sivaji (2007) was the third Indian film to enter the 100 Crore Club. Rajinikanth played dual roles, as a scientist and an andro-humanoid robot, in the science fiction film Enthiran (2010) and its sequel 2.0 (2018), both being India's most expensive production at the time of their release, and among the highest-grossing Indian films of all time.

Rajinikanth is widely regarded as one of the most popular actors in the history of Indian cinema. His popularity has been attributed to his uniquely styled dialogues and idiosyncrasies in films, as well as his political statements and philanthropy. A philanthropist, Rajinikanth undertook a day-long fast in 2002 to protest the Government of Karnataka's decision to not release Kaveri River water into Tamil Nadu, and donated ₹10 million (US$130,000) toward a plan to interlink Indian rivers. Rajinikanth is 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. In 2015, a film about his fandom, For the Love of a Man, premiered at the 71st Venice International Film Festival.