DH Web Desk
Although Rajinikanth is his screen name, Rajini's real name is Shivaji Rao Gaekwad after the Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji.
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Rajinikanth
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Rajinikanth is from Karnataka and grew up learning Marathi and Kannada. He started learning Tamil while pursuing an acting course at the Madras Film Institute.
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From working as a coolie and carpenter to being a bus conductor, Rajini did several odd jobs before trying his luck in acting.
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With a career spanning almost 50 years, Rajinikanth has been part of 170 films.
Credit: PTI
While the world bows to Rajini's heroism, he started his career by playing villain in films.
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Rajini is the only Indian actor to have featured in the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) syllabus. He was featured in a lesson titled 'From Bus Conductor to Superstar'.
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Not many know that Rajinikanth is the first Indian actor to have worked in movies using different camera technologies like black and white, colour, 3D and motion capture.
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Enthiran, the movie that featured Rajini in a different avatar, is the first Tamil film to make it into IMDb's 'Top 50 Films' from around the world list in 2010.
Credit: Special Arrangement