Happy Birthday: 63 turns Rajinikanth today

Tamil superstar Rajinikanth turned 63 and will be celebrating his birthday in native town Bangalore. Sources close to the actor said he had left for the city earlier, in keeping with his usual practice of staying away from Chennai on his birthday every year. However, he had met his fans last year. [caption id=“attachment_1283377” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  AFP[/caption] Die-hard fans of the veteran actor have organised special prayers and welfare activities to celebrate their idol’s birthday. Rajinikanth’s is a typical rags-to-riches story. He started out as a bus conductor in Bangalore and became India’s most sought after actor, complete with a frenzied fan base hailing him as their ‘Thalaivar’ (The Leader). From what started as a small role in his mentor K Balachander’s ‘Aboorva Ragangal’ in 1975, Rajinikanth soon charted his path as a preferred villain before opting for more positive roles. Whether portraying struggles of a low-class printing unit employee in ‘Aarilirunthu Arubathu Varai’ (From 6 to 60) or portraying the divinity of Sage Ragavendra, he played a wide variety of challenging roles. He also broke many stereotypes of a hero, including holding a cigarette with much style while mouthing dialogues in his own inimitable way, that drove fans crazy. Previously, Tamil film heroes avoided scenes that included smoking or drinking. However, the smoking scenes later turned against him, with the S Ramadoss-led PMK objecting to his on-screen smoking, claiming he was actively promoting cigarette culture among youth. He has since then largely avoided smoking in his films. Known for his humility and outspoken nature, he had also courted controversy in 1996, making some remarks against then ruling AIADMK dispensation. He later supported a DMK-Tamil Maanila congress alliance which swept the polls that year. Rajinikanth has delivered some of the biggest blockbusters of Tamil cinema, and has worked with all big directors including Mani Ratnam and Shankar. Currently, he is working in his daughter Soundarya-directed Kochadaiiyan,a 3-D film being shot using motion capture technology, starring Deepika Padukone, Jackie Shroff and Tamil actor Sarathkumar among others. PTI