Actor Rajinikanth Turns 73: Rare And Unseen Pictures Of The Legend

South superstar Rajinikanth was born on 12 December 1950 in Bangalore to Jijabai and Ramoji Rao; his real name is Shivaji Rao Gaekwad.

The megastar lost his mother when he was only 4 years old. He came from an impoverished family; hence, Rajinikanth worked as a porter and a bus conductor. As a conductor, he used to sell tickets in a fun way, so he became famous.

According to reports, Rajinikanth was highly motivated by his friend Raj Bahadur to become an actor. Then Rajinikanth came to take admission in Madras Film Institute. Learning acting was challenging for the superstar; he first learned Tamil.

While studying acting, Rajinikanth met director K Balachandra, who gave him an acting opportunity in the film Apoorva Raganagal. Rajinikanth played the role of villain in this film.

Rajinikanth met Lata for the first time during an interview where his wife had come to interview him for a magazine.

In this picture, Vijay Joseph, known as Vijay Thalapathy, is standing on the Left side of Rajinikanth.

Rajinikanth got the superstar tag from the film Baasha, released in 1995. It was from there that Rajinikanth opened the doors of the international stage for Tamil films.

You will be surprised to know that Rajinikanth kept playing the role of villain in the initial years of his career. After this, he got the role of hero in the film Bhuvan Oru Kelvikuri, from where he broke his villain image.

Rajinikanth has two daughters, Aishwarya and Soundarya. Aishwarya was married to South actor Dhanush, and Soundarya is married to businessman Vishgan.