Shivaji Rao Gaekwad, popularly known as Rajnikanth, is arguably the greatest Indian actor, who is worshipped in the South as Demigod.

Age and Height

Born on 12 December 1950, Rajinikanth is 68 years old (as of 2018).  He is 5 feet 8 inches tall.

Marriage/Relationships

Rajnikanth married Latha Rajinikanth in the year 1981. He has never been rumoured to be with anyone other than his wife.

Family

Rajinikanth has two daughters with his wife Latha Rajinikanth. The names of his daughters are Aishwarya Rajinikanth and Soundarya Rajinikanth. Aishwarya is married to South Indian actor Dhanush. Whereas, Soundarya is working as a graphic designer in the film industry.

Career

Rajinikanth started his acting career in 1975 with a brief appearance in a Tamil film called Apoorva Raagangal. Later he did a few other small roles until he bagged his first pivotal role in the remake of Tamil film Aval Oru Thodar Kathai. In the next two years, he played some negative characters and in 1977, he got his first lead role in the Telugu movie Chilakamma Cheppindi, which was a major breakthrough in his career. He also did 15 movies that year.

In 1978, Rajinikanth did 20 films in three different languages- Tamil, Kannada and Telugu. In 1979, Rajinikanth wanted to quit acting career but in 1980 he was forced to return with a Tamil remake of the Bollywood movie Don. By 1983, Rajinikanth had become one of the most popular actors in the South Indian Cinema and made way to Bollywood with the movie Andha Kanoon alongside Amitabh Bachchan and Hema Malini.

In 1985, Rajinikanth greatest success was his 101st film Bewafai, which fetched him immense success. In the 1990s, the stardom of Rajinikanth was at its peak as all his movies made merry at the box-office. In 2010, Rajinikanth worked on a science fiction film named Enthiran. The movie was remade in Bollywood with the name Robot opposite Aishwarya Rai. The sequel of the movie robot released recently by the name Robot 2.0.

Controversies

One of the most renowned controversies of this actor was due to a poster in which, Rajinikanth was shown above Hindu Gods that read, "Even gods would cast their vote if you come to politics. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad got enraged by this level of audacity and lodged an FIR against the actor and his fan community.

Favourites

Rajinikanth loves travelling and reading apart from his work. His favourite writer is Shri Ramana Maharshi. His favourite actors are Kamal Hassan and Hollywood star Sylvester Stallone.

Awards

Rajinikanth was honoured with the Padma Bhushan (2000) and the Padma Vibhushan(2016) by the Government of India.

Trivia

Rajinikanth is a man of golden heart who was a bus conductor before starting this dream journey of his.