A phenomenon called Rajnikant: The Big Boss turns 58

Ankita Shukla Rajnikant-India’s answer to James Bond? Right! Who needs Bond, when we have our own Desi Bond, after all a wave of enthusiasm sweeps Tamil Nadu and other parts of India as Rajni`s die-hard fans burst crackers and distribute sweets to celebrate every time any of his movies hits the Box Office.When ‘Sivaji: The Boss’, hit the screens, his fans performed rituals by bathing Rajni`s cut-outs with milk and breaking coconuts to ward off evil forces. This is the amount of adulation this man commands. It’s the ‘the phenomenon of Rajnikant’, an inexplicable, outlandish admiration that beholds the eyes of every movie goer of this country. All this for a man whose stunts are world famous, his witty dialogues have fans in Japan and China. His movies are a correct amalgamation of racy stunts, punchy one-liners, raunchy dance moves, tear jerking emotions and last but not the least having goodness triumph over evil. In one line: a typical enthralling potboiler. But all this has not been a cake walk for ‘Boss’. A lot has gone into the making of this Superstar. It is a rags to riches story. The Initial Days Rajnikant was born in a Maharashtrian family based in Karnataka. He had a difficult childhood and his was not a very well to do family. In his youth, he survived by doing all kinds of odd jobs in Bangalore. He also worked as a bus conductor, a reason why he connects so well with the masses. He also attended a theatre for stage plays. It was during this time that he nurtured his acting interests by performing in various stage plays. He later on went on to do a formal course in acting from Chennai.A Star was Born After years of immense struggle came Katha Sangama, his Kannada debut film in 1975. Initially he had to do with mere supporting roles, mostly those of villains and after much initiation came the lead roles. Then came films like ‘Bhuvana Oru Kelvikkuri’ and ‘Aarilirunthu Arubathu Varai’ which changed his image entirely and for the good. People saw him in a positive role for the first time. These turned out to be the turning point in Rajni’s career as he transformed from an actor, who merely fascinated the audiences, to one whom they could associate with. The acceptance of Rajinikant sans his mannerisms testified that a star was born. Success was repeated with Billa, Murattukaalai,Pokkiri Raja, Thanikattu Raja, Naan Mahaan Alla and Moondru Mugam. From then, there was no looking back. His professional success was followed by a milestone in his personal life that was his marriage to Latha in 1981. The Epitome The man kept on rising in his career silencing all his critics by his work. He went on to become one of India’s most loved stars. In the late eighties and early nineties, he reached the altitude of success with most of his movies like Mannan, Padayappa, Muthu, Baashha, Annamalaiand Veera becoming blockbusters down south. His movies had set such high records that it was believed that only he will be able to break his own records at the Box Office! It was during this time that Rajinikant made his entry into the mainstream Hindi cinema with Andha Kanoon. Though the response was lukewarm but at the same time it could not stop him from riveting the rest of India with his innate charm. He did a few more of Hindi movies including Chaalbaaz, Uttar Dakshin and Hum, but his heart always belonged to his native regional cinema. Apart from Bollywood he also has a Hollywood movie, Bloodstone to his credit. International Acclaim: The Conqueror of China If Raj Kapoor ‘conquered’ the Russians, and Amitabh Bachchan the Lebanese, Rajni seems to have carved up a major chunk of the Eastern belt for himself. In present day China, a young Chinese youth watching a movie on his DVD system; a closer look at TV screen can surprisingly recall our very own ‘Rajni’ delivering his punchy dialogues to the villains in the rough slang used by the water front gangs, even while he romances his lady love in chaste Chinese! A major chunk of Chinese population admire him for his action packed sequences and rugged body language. Malaysia is not too far behind either. A large number of Malays, Malay-speaking Chinese and Japanese are Rajni fans. Ask why? The answer is the ‘common’ love for soul wrenching action, crunchy pick up lines, scintillating dance moves and amusing slapstick comic timing; all these make Rajni a winner in this part of the world. The Style Icon Once upon a time, Indian heroes were meant to be representing the common man. Then came a day when a common looking, handsomely dark dude taught people a new way of lighting a cigarette- he would place it on his left palm and pat it - the cigarette would land on his lips, in the fraction of a second. This was Rajnikant, the stylish icon of South Indian cinema. The same goes for the black sunglasses which had to fly, take a turn and only then can they come and sit on the nose of Rajni, the hero who walked the stylish gait. Earlier the Indian audiences had followed their favourite filmstars’ dress sense and hairstyle but now, for the first time, a star’s mannerisms had come to be the subject of hot discussion in drawing rooms. Rajni became a sort of trendsetter who could attract the attention of even those who are otherwise indifferent to the film stars and their antics. These days, he has Manish Malhotra to design his clothes. He has come far, but neither the increasing age nor a decreasing hairline has caused the Rajnikant magic to wane. A Commoner at Heart Ego and starry airs are unknown to Rajnikant. It is learnt that even during breaks he hardly ever rushes to his air-conditioned makeup room. Instead, he prefers to sleep on the sets, even without a pillow, merely covering his eyes with a wet cloth. When ‘Baba’, one of his movies could not gross enough at the Box Office; accumulating heavy losses for the distributors. He himself repaid the losses incurred by the distributors who had immense faith in him. Rajni’s Trivia

His real name is Shivajirao Gaekwad.

He is also known as Periya Thalaivar (Big Boss)

Although his mother-tongue is Marathi, he has not acted in any Marathi movies yet.

Before starting his career in the film industry, he worked as a bus conductor for the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation in Bangalore.

In 1980’s, at a crucial phase in his career when he was accomplishing all his career heights, Rajinikant abruptly chose to quit acting, but was coaxed to return back.

His comeback vehicle ‘Billa’ was a remake of Amitabh Bachchan starrer Don.

Muthu, a film starring Rajni was the first Tamil film to be dubbed into Japanese as Muthu: The Dancing Maharajah.

Apart from Tamil, Rajinikant has acted in 173 movies, including Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Hindi and Bengali movies.

Rajinikant was named as one of the influential persons in South Asia by Asiaweek.

Rajni is India`s most highly paid actor.

He received the Padma Bhushan, for his work in Indian cinema in 2000.

His latest film, Sivaji: The Boss, directed by S. Shankar is the first Tamil movie to make to the UK and South Africa Top 10 Charts.

Famous Movies: Chandramukhi,Padayappa, Peddarayudu, Basha, Muthu, Annamalai, Thalapathy, Velaikaran, Sri Raghavendra, Nallavanuku Nallavan, Billa, Moondru Mugam, Enkeyo Ketta Kural, Aarilirunthu Arubathu Varai, Mullum Malarum, Chandramukhi, Sivaji, Bulandi, Aatank Hi Aatank, Insaniyat Ke Devta, Farishtay, Phool Bane Angaray, Hum, Chaalbaaz, Gair Kaanooni, Uttar Dakshin, Asli Naqli, Bhagwan Dada, Dosti Dushmani, Maha Guru, Bewafai, Giraftaar, John Jani Janardhan, Meri Adalat, Aakhri Sangram, Andhaa Kaanoon.