Happy Birthday, Rajinikanth! As Thalaiva turns 72, Kamal Haasan, Dulquer Salman, Dhanush, Shehnaaz Gill lead wishes for the superstar

ANI

Chennai, December 12

As superstar Rajinikanth turned a year older on Monday, fans gathered outside his Poes Garden residence in Chennai to celebrate his birthday. They distributed sweets but were a bit disappointed as their Thalaiva was not present because he was shooting in Hyderabad. Nevertheless, they still raised slogans and wished him a happy birthday.

Several politicians, movie stars and Rajinikanth’s fans have also wished ‘Thalaiva’ on social media. They have flooded Twitter and Instagram with birthday wishes in the form of creative posters and videos.

Born Shivaji Rao Gaekwad, the megastar is widely regarded as one of the most successful and popular actors in the history of Indian cinema. Known for his uniquely styled lines and idiosyncrasies in films, he has a huge fanbase across the country, especially in the South, where he enjoys a cult following.

The Government of India honored him with Padma Bhushan in 2000, Padma Vibhushan in 2016, India’s third and second highest civilian honors, and Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2019 for his contributions to Indian cinema.  

 Check out these 5 facts about megastar Rajinikanth  

• Born into a Marathi family in Bangalore, Rajinikanth’s real name is Shivaji Rao Gaekwad and he grew up learning Marathi and Kannada. The future superstar was named after the great Maratha warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji.
• Before entering the film industry, once he was done with his schooling, Rajinikanth did various jobs including that of a coolie and carpenter. He was also recruited by the Bangalore Transport Service as a bus conductor.
• Did you know he started out as a villain initially? During the first couple of years, Rajinikanth played anti-hero roles like an abusive husband, womanizer, etc. In 1977, he was seen playing a positive character on the silver screen in the movie ‘Bhuvana Oru Kelvikuri’.
• Rajinikanth has starred in eleven Tamil remakes of Amitabh Bachchan films like ‘Deewar’, ‘Amar Akbar Anthony’, ‘Laawaris’ and ‘Don’ among others which later went on to become superhits.
• Rajinikanth is the only Indian actor to have featured in the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) syllabus in a lesson titled ‘From Bus Conductor to Superstar’.