Rajinikanth (born 12 December 1950 as Shivaji Rao Gaikwad) is an Indian film actor. He made his debut as an actor in the National Film Award-winning Tamil film Apoorva Raagangal (1975), directed by K. Balachander, whom the actor considers his mentor.
Rajinikanth was born as Shivaji Rao Gaekwad, to mother Jijabai and father Ramoji Rao Gaikwad, a police constable, on 12 December 1950 in the Indian city of Bangalore in Mysore State.Being the youngest of four siblings in the family he has two brothers and a sister. After his mother's death when he was nine years old, he struggled with an impoverished lifestyle during his childhood. During that time, he often did odd jobs as a coolie in his community. He attended the Government Model Primary School at Gavipuram, Bangalore, where he had his primary education in Kannada language. He performed various jobs before joining the Bangalore Transport Service (BTS) as a bus conductor. In 1973, his friend and co-worker Raj Bahadur motivated him to join the Madras Film Institute and also financially supported him during this phase.
Rajinikanth married Latha Rangachari on 26 February 1981, at the age of 31 in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh. The couple have two daughters named Aishwarya Rajinikanth and Soundarya Rajinikanth. His wife, Latha Rajinikanth, currently runs a school named "The Ashram". His elder daughter, Aishwarya, married actor Dhanush on 18 November 2004 and they have two sons named Yathra and Linga.His younger daughter, Soundarya, works in the film industry as a director, producer and graphic designer. She married industrialist Ashwin Ramkumar on 3 September 2010.
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. 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.
Rajinikanth was born as Shivaji Rao Gaekwad, to mother Jijabai and father Ramoji Rao Gaikwad, a police constable, on 12 December 1950 in the Indian city of Bangalore in Mysore State.Being the youngest of four siblings in the family he has two brothers and a sister. After his mother's death when he was nine years old, he struggled with an impoverished lifestyle during his childhood. During that time, he often did odd jobs as a coolie in his community. He attended the Government Model Primary School at Gavipuram, Bangalore, where he had his primary education in Kannada language. He performed various jobs before joining the Bangalore Transport Service (BTS) as a bus conductor. In 1973, his friend and co-worker Raj Bahadur motivated him to join the Madras Film Institute and also financially supported him during this phase.
Rajinikanth married Latha Rangachari on 26 February 1981, at the age of 31 in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh. The couple have two daughters named Aishwarya Rajinikanth and Soundarya Rajinikanth. His wife, Latha Rajinikanth, currently runs a school named "The Ashram". His elder daughter, Aishwarya, married actor Dhanush on 18 November 2004 and they have two sons named Yathra and Linga.His younger daughter, Soundarya, works in the film industry as a director, producer and graphic designer. She married industrialist Ashwin Ramkumar on 3 September 2010.
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. 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.
