Happy birthday Rajinikanth: From a bus conductor to superstar - journey of Thalaiva | In pics

Rajinikanth is the name that has become synonymous with films and cinema. The man named Shivaji Rao Gaikwad, who went on to become the Thalaiva, turns 75 today, and this birthday is extra special as it comes when the actor has completed 50 glorious years in the industry this year. And what would be a better way to celebrate the icon’s journey than looking at his struggles and knowing what his life was like before he became Rajinikanth?
50 years of Rajinikanth have been full of entertainment, while the initial years may have gone unnoticed, but those years built him as an actor. His journey began in 1975 with Apoorva Raagangal, directed by the legendary K. Balachander. In the movie, Rajini plays a small role alongside Kamal Haasan. However, the actor got his breakthrough as a villain through films like Moondru Mudichu and 16 Vayathinile.
By the late 70s and early 80s, Rajinikanth got a fair share of roles as he went on to shift his gears from protagonist to antagonist. But if we talk about which was Rajinikanth's first movie as a solo lead, it was the 1978 film Bhairavi.
Today, Rajinikanth has over 170 films under his belt with more counting. As he continues to win hearts with his performances, the actor didn’t have an easy life as many would have imagined.
Born as Shivaji Rao Gaikwad into a Marathi family in Bangalore, Rajinikanth came from a middle-class family. His mother was a homemaker and his father was a police constable.
At the time he was working as a conductor and earning, he continued to take part in plays before he took up an acting course at the Madras Film Institute. Although his family didn’t support him in his decision to take up the course, it was his friend and co-worker Raj Bahadur, who motivated him to join the institute and financially supported him.