Shivaji Rao Gaekwad, known professionally as Rajinikanth, is an Indian actor who works primarily in Tamil cinema. In addition to acting, he has also worked as a producer and screenwriter. He has won many award including, four Tamil Nadu State Film Best Actor Awards and a Filmfare Best Tamil Actor Award. 

 

Bio/Wiki
Real Name	Shivaji Rao Gaekwad
Nickname(s)	Rajinikanth, Thalaiva, Superstar
Profession(s)	Actor, Producer, Screenplay Writer, Philanthropist
Physical Stats & More
Height (approx.)	in centimeters- 173 cm in meters- 1.73 m in feet inches- 5’ 8”
Weight (approx.)	in kilograms- 75 kg in pounds- 165 lbs
Body Measurements	- Chest: 40 Inches - Waist: 33 Inches - Biceps: 12 Inches
Eye Colour	Dark Brown
Hair Colour	White (Semi-bald)
Personal Life
Date of Birth	12 December 1950
Age (as of 2020)	70 Years
Birthplace	Bengaluru, Mysore State (now Karnataka), India
Zodiac sign	Sagittarius
Signature
Nationality	Indian
Hometown	Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
School	• Acharya Paathshala in Basavanagudi, Bangalore • Vivekananda Balaka Sangha
College	M.G.R Film and Television Institute of Tamil Nadu
Educational Qualification	Diploma in Acting [1]
Debut	Tamil Film: Apoorva Raagangal (1975) Kannada Film: Katha Sangama (1976) Telugu Film: Anthuleni Katha (1976) Bollywood Film: Andha Kanoon (1983)
Family	Father- Ramoji Rao Gaekwad (Worked as a police constable) Mother- Jijabai (Homemaker) Brothers- Satyanarayana Rao (Elder), Nageshwara Rao (Elder) Sister- Aswath Balubhai (Elder)
Religion	Hinduism
Address	A bungalow in Poes Garden, Chennai
Hobbies	Travelling, Reading, Gardening
Awards/Honours	2000: Padma Bhushan 2014: Centenary Award for Indian Film Personality of the Year 2016: Padma Vibhushan 2021: On 1 April 2021, the Government of India announced the 51st Dadasaheb Phalke Award for Rajinikanth.
Controversies	• In 2014, Rajinikanth got the stay from the Madras High Court to stop the release of Bollywood film 'Main Hoon Rajinikanth.' Later, the name of the film was changed to 'Main Hoon Part-Time Killer.' • In 2015, the Madras High Court issued a notice to Rajinikanth, on a plea by a financier to take action against the director, Kasthuri Raja, father of actor Dhanush. The financier also claimed that he gave money to Kasthuri Raja after he had used Rajinikanth's name. He wanted Rajinikanth to 'initiate action against his relative for misusing his name without his consent.' • In 2017, Lyca Productions announced that Rajinikanth will unveil a housing scheme by its charity wing 'Gnanam Foundation' for displaced Tamils in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. After this announcement, the pro-Tamil protested against Rajinikanth's visit.
Favourite Things
Food	Masala Dosa
Actor(s)	Amitabh Bachchan, Kamal Haasan, Sylvester Stallone
Actresses	Rekha, Hema Malini
Film	Veera Kesari (Kannada)
Musician	Ilayaraja
Colour	Black
Book(s)	Ponniyin Selvan by Kalki, Amma Vanthal by T. Janakiraman
Politician	Lee Kuan Yew (Former Prime Minister of Singapore)
Social Activist	Anna Hazare
Sport	Cricket
Destination	The Himalayas
Girls, Affairs and More
Marital Status	Married
Affairs/Girlfriends	Silk Smitha (Actress) Latha (Producer, Singer)
Wife/Spouse	Latha (M.1981-present)
Marriage Date	26 February 1981
Children	Son- None Daughters- Aishwarya (born in 1982), Soundarya (born in 1984)
Style Quotient
Cars Collection	Premier Padmini Fiat, Chevrolet Tavera, Toyota Innova, Ambassador, Honda Civic, Lamborghini Urus
Bikes Collection	Suzuki Hayabusa, Suzuki Intruder M1800 RZ
Money Factor
Salary	₹40-45 crore/film
Net Worth	$55 million

 

Some Lesser Known Facts About Rajinikanth

• Does Rajinikanth smoke?: No (Quit)

• Does Rajinikanth drink alcohol?: Yes

• Rajnikanth is a Maharashtrian by birth and not a Tamilian, though his ancestors hailed from both Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.

• He lost his mother at a young age after which he was raised by his father and his elder brothers.

   

  

  Rajinikanth childhood photo

• He was a very naughty kid in his childhood.

• Before becoming an actor he did odd jobs in Chennai and Bengaluru such as a carpenter, a coolie, and a bus conductor for the Bangalore Transport Service (BTS). As a bus conductor, he used to get ₹750/month.

• His friend, Raj Bahadur, used to give him funds to learn acting in a film institution in Chennai.

   

  

  Rajinikanth in younger days

• As he was keen on acting, he joined the Madras Film Institute, and during one of his stage performances, he met the director, K Balachander, who offered him a role in his Tamil film. Until that time, he was not good at speaking Tamil, but he quickly learned it and master the language.

   

  

  Rajinikanth with K Balachander

• He made his acting debut alongside Kamal Haasan in Tamil film ‘Apoorva Raagangal‘ (1975).

   

  

  Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan in Apoorva Raagangal

• For the initial two years of his acting career, he got recognised for his negative roles, until he got the lead role in the Telugu film ‘Chilakamma Cheppindi‘ (1977).

• His first commercial success was ‘Billa’ (1980), a remake of Amitabh Bachchan’s ‘Don’ (1978).

   

  

  Rajinikanth’s Billa is a remake of Don

• He met his wife Latha, when a group of college girls came to take his interview, where Latha was leading the group. Rajinikanth got so much attracted to Latha that he proposed her on the same day.

• In his 100th film, he played the role of a Hindu saint ‘Raghavendra Swami’ in the film ‘Sri Raghavendra‘ (1985).

   

  

  Rajinikanth played the role of Raghavendra Swami

• In 1988, Rajinikanth did his first and only English film ‘Bloodstone,’ an Indian-American action-adventure film.

   

  

  Rajinikanth acted in Bloodstone

• His film ‘Raaja Chinna Roja‘ (1989), was the first Tamil film to use animation.

   

  

  Rajinikanth starred in Raaja Chinna Roja

• His only film that was released with a U/A certificate was ‘Thalapathi‘ (1991).

• In 2002, he did a day-long fast to protest the Karnataka Government’s decision not to release water from the river Kaveri into Tamil Nadu. Also in 2008, he participated in a day-long fast with other Tamil film personalities, demanding that the Sri Lankan government must end the civil war and give Sri Lankan Tamils their rights.

   

  

  Rajinikanth fast in 2002

• In 2007, he became the highest paid Asian actor after Jackie Chan, when he was paid ₹26 crore for the film ‘Sivaji.’

• His science fiction film ‘Enthiran‘ (English – Robot) was supposed to be done by Kamal Haasan.
  

• Rajinikanth was named as the Most Influential Indian of 2010, by Forbes India.

• He made a special appearance in Shah Rukh Khan‘s Sci-Fi film, ‘Ra.One‘ (2011).

• In 2011, he supported social activist Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption movement and offered him to use of his marriage hall, Raghavendra Kalyana Mandapam in Chennai.

• Since 1995, he goes to the Himalayas after every film.

   

  

  Rajinikanth in the Himalayas

• He doesn’t meet people after 9 pm.

• Rajinikanth is very punctual and reaches all his shootings before time.

• He is known for his humble nature, simplicity, and down to earth personality.

   

  

  Rajinikanth lives a very simple life

• He has a God-like stature in South India.

   

  

  Rajinikanth is worshipped by his fans

• Meena is the only actress who has worked with him as a child actor and as his heroine.

   

  

  Rajinikanth with Meena

• His fans celebrate his birthday (12 December) as ‘World Style Day‘ or ‘International Style Day.’

• His spiritual guru was, Swami Satchidananda, the founder of Integral Yoga.

   

  

  Rajinikanth with Swami Satchidananda

• He has acted alongside Sripriya in more than 27 movies, the most with any actress.

   

  

  Rajinikanth and Sripriya

• He paid the losses of his distributors when his films ‘Baba’ (2002), and ‘Kuselan’ (2008), failed at the box office.

• He is the owner of Raghavendra Mandapam marriage hall in Chennai.

   

  

  Rajinikanth owns Raghavendra Mandapam marriage hall in Chennai

• His much famous style of tossing cigarette came from an incidence when he wanted to join a gang in his school days, as they were his seniors so they refused, after which he thought he would impress the guys with this trick. He used to practice this trick in the bushes of the school.
  

• He is the first Indian actor to have featured in black & white, coloured, animated, and 3D film.

   

  

  Rajinikanth in 4 different forms of filming