Rajinikanth has been a megastar in the Tamil movie industry since the 70s. He is one of the highest earning actors in Asia. He has also worked in Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, and English movies. He was born in Bangalore (India), and was employed as a bus conductor before he joined the Madras Film Institute. He made his debut in _Katha Sangama (1975)_ and became a star with _Apoorva Raagangal (1975)_ . His unique acting style is characterized by a trademark gesture: flipping a cigarette in the air and catching it in his mouth. His fans conduct poojas on huge cutouts of Rajnikant just before the launching of his films to ensure his success. His fans collect opening day ticket stubs of his movies and even buy them at exorbitant prices. Directors cannot 'kill off' his character in the movie for fear that the theatre will be burnt down to prevent future runnings of the movie by his 'crazed' fans who consider him almost a god. He is said to "explode like a tiger on screen".

Latha (26 February 1981 - present) (2 children)

Trivia

Tamil Superstar, worshiped like a god by his fans.
Despite being a megastar of Tamil movies, he is not Tamil.
Father of Aishwarya Dhanush.
Father of Soundarya R. Ashwin.
His mother-tongue is Marathi.
Rajnikanth's movies after 1995 started running all over India, even outside southern states and were dubbed in regional Indian languages and Hindi due to his popularity all over India. Rajinikanth is extremely popular in Japan.
His 100th film was Sri Raghvendra, which was made in Tamil.
Owing to his immense worldwide success and his legacy as one of the best style icons ever, Rajinikanth's birthday, December 12, is celebrated as "World Style Day" or "International Style Day" by his fans.
Was signed for Naseeruddin Shah's role in Tahalka (1992).
His song "Unnakum Ennakum" from Sree Raaghavendar (1985) was sampled by Black Eyed Peas in the song "Elephunk".

Meditation is the key to his energy.
The happiest men in this world are child, lunatic and a sage.