Mr. Rajinikanth,the Indian Super Star of Tamil Silver Screen was born in a middle class Marathi family in Bangalore Karnataka in south India on 12thDecember1950.

 His original name is Shivaji Rao Gaekwad. He lost his mother at the age of five and he was looked after by his elder brother Mr.Satyanarayana .

Education:

He did his schooling at the Acharya Pathshala in Bangalore and then at the Vivekananda Balak Sangh, a unit of theRamakrishna Mission.Born and brought up in a Marathi family in Karnataka

Occupation: Tamil Cinema Actor

Mr. Rajini is settled in Tamilnadu and he has not acted in Marathi film yet.

He began his career doing various jobs in Karnataka. 

He also attended a theatre for stage plays. 

Before starting his career in the film industry, he worked as a Bus Conductor for KSTC at Bangalore City. It was during this time that he nurtured his acting interests by performing in various stage plays.

Rajinikanth married Latha on February 26, 1981, and they have two children: Aishwarya and Soundarya. 

Latha is currently the principal of a school named - The Ashram. Aishwarya married actor Dhanush on November 18, 2004.

Mr.Rajini was initially cast in supporting roles, the first being that of a cancer patient in Apoorva Raagangal(1975), directed by famous Tamil Film Director Mr. K.Balachander. 

However, his first film was in kannada, Katha Sangama directed by Puttanna kanagal (1975).

The growing actor Mr. Shivaji Rao Geikwas was given a new name RAJANIKANTH  by  "Iyakkunar Thilagam"- Director K. Balachander.

Though Rajinikanth persistently refers to Mr. K. Balachander as his "guru" or mentor, it was director Mr. S. P. Muthuraman who actually revamped Rajinikanth’s image entirely. 

Muthuraman first experimented with him in a positive role inBhuvana Oru Kelvikkuri (1977) as a villain in the first half and a do-gooder in the second, accepting a woman with a child abandoned by her lover. 

Around this timeMullum Malarum (1978), directed byMr. Mahendran, established Rajinikanth on the Tamil film arena. 

The success of Bhuvana Oru Kelvikkuri prompted Muthuraman to make a mushy melodrama with Rajinikanth as a hero sacrificing everything for his siblings inAaril Irundhu Arubadu Varai (1979).

Even while the film was in the making, Rajinikanth had misgivings about whether the audience would accept him in tear jerkers of this kind. But its box-office success made Rajinikanth popular among women audience. 

These films were the turning points in Rajinikanth’s career — he changed from an actor who merely enthralled the audiences, to one who could also make them cry. 

The acceptance of Rajinikanth sans his mannerisms proved he had at last become an "actor" from a "star." 

His film roles were mainly as a villain during the period 1975 to 1977, frequently with the World famous Tamil ActorMr.Kamal Hassan as the hero, in movies like Pathinaru Vayadhinilae and Avargal and (both 1977).

At this crucial phase in his career when he was reaching dizzying heights, Rajinikanth abruptly chose to quit acting, but was coaxed back. 

As an answer to critics who were claiming that "Rajini was finished" came BILLA, a remake of the AMITABH BACHCHAN starrer DON.

With its phenomenal success he was accepted as a full-fledged hero. ) In his 100th movie,Sri Raghavendra, he played the Hindu saint.

Rajinikanth wrote his first screenplay for the filmVALLI (1993), and said to the media that it would be his last film (but it was not the case as he acted again). His film Muthu was the first Tamil film to be dubbed into Japanese as Muthu: The Dancing Maharajah and became very popular.

When he was 53 years old , his Baba released amidst much fanfare. Although the film grossed enough to cover its budget, it was viewed as a miserable showing and fell short of market expectations accumulating heavy losses for the distributors. Rajinikanth himself repaid the losses incurred by the distributors who had immense faith in him.

His latest film, SIVAJI - THE BOSS, directed by Mr. S.Shankar was released on June 15th 2007. 

Rajnikanth will now be lending his voice to the lead character (based on himself) in an animation film for Adlabs titled Sulthan The Warrior to be directed by his daughter Soundarya Rajnikanth. The movie is scheduled for a 2008 release. 

Rajinikanth's films are known for their "punch" dialogues. These are rhyming lines of dialogue delivered by RAJNI to indirectly express his principles or position on political issues. Tamil magazines sometimes conduct competitions to predict possible punch dialogues for his forthcoming films These dialogues are repeated many times in his movies and most of these have significance to the political situation at the time of release of relevant movies.

Awards Received by Rajnikanth:

In the years between 1977 and 2005 Rajinikanth has received awards from many organizations, like Cinema Express, Film fans Association, Film fare etc., for his on-screen performances and off-screen abilities in writing and producing. 

He has received awards in the Best Actor category for his performance in about 15 films. 

He has also received awards in Best Story Writer and Best Producer categories for VALLI.

He has also received other honours such as: