12.12 – Only one thing that will pop out, which is our Thalaivar’s birthday.
Let’s pay homage to our Legendary South Indian superstar, Rajinikanth on his 72 birthday by exploring his epic journey of success and some of the valuable life lessons he imparted to many of us.
His journey from being a bus conductor to ruling the film industry in South India is phenomenal and has inspired many. It’s because of absolute persistence and dedication that through unending hardships, he could achieve his goal unperturbed.
Born as Shivaji Rao Gaikwad on 12 December 1950, he was the youngest of four siblings in the Marathi household. His father was a Police Head Constable and his mother, Jijabai, died when he was quite young. Due to his family situation, he was forced to work in unusual occupations, such as an office boy, a coolie, a carpenter, in Mysore Machinery, and earned the money by packing rice bags at one time.
But this was only the beginning of the persevering story of Rajinikanth as he went on to become an inspirational personality many look up to today.
Even as a conductor, Rajinikanth is no less than a celebrity. Among tourists and other bus drivers, he was well-known for his ways of giving bus tickets and whistling. He acted in a few Kannada theatre plays during this time, saw a lot of movies and tried to emulate Sivaji Ganesan, Rajkumar and M.G Ramachandran. The love for movies and performing was always there because of inane talent and the same desire eventually transformed into enthusiasm.
Then, he joined the Film Institute of Adyar, Chennai. During a performance at the Institute, Rajinikanth was spotted by K.K. Balachander, who was so fascinated by him, Rajini was given a chance to play a role in his script. Though Rajinikanth mainly played supporting and negative roles at this time, it was when his acting career kickstarted turning into a phenomenal success story to remember.
His first breakthrough came from the movie Bhairavi, where he was cast in the lead role for the first time. His acting talent was quickly noticed by the nation. Afterwards, Rajinikanth didn’t look back and queued up hundreds of hit movies. Baasha (1995), Padayappa (1999), Arunachalam, Thalapathy (1991) are some of his biggest moves.
Rajinikanth has shown that age is just a number and that it does not really apply if a person is committed to doing something great. His age is startling if anyone compares it to his current projects and the latest movies. At the age of 68, he has always had the power to make hits like Shivaji – The Boss, Robot, and Kabali. He was paid $8.6 million for the movie Sivaji and became the second-most-paid star in Asia since Jackie Chan.
Furthermore, our superstar taught us that with tenacity and commitment, you can surely succeed in life.
The Life Lessons from Rajinikanth
- Don’t Give Up on Your Passion: Rajinikanth had always been interested in acting and even through his younger years, when he couldn’t afford an acting class, he worked as a conductor and carpenter before one of his friends loaned him the money to join Madras Film Institute. He was especially known for his entertaining demeanour as a bus conductor and through his struggling years, he followed a never-give-up attitude towards pursuing his dreams.
- Stay Open to Learning New Things: Once he joined the theatre and took up acting projects, he stayed open to learning new things be it mastering the Tamil language for the films in the South to working on his acting art.
- Finding Your Own Style: Rajinikanth’s style of acting on-screen is unique and inspiring in itself and makes him different from other actors, and his own style was the major reason for him becoming a global superstar! The story of Rajinikanth teaches you to find your own forte and style because that’s what sets you apart from the crowd.
- See Failure as Stepping Stones: There came a time in Rajinikanth’s career when many of his films like Baba and Kuselan bombed at the box office. But he compensated the losses on his own and kept honing his art and style and then made a comeback with P Vasu’s Chandramukhi!
- Let your work speak for you: When was the last time you read a Rajinikanth interview? Chances are it was a long time ago, as they’re extremely rare — the superstar is famously reticent when it comes to speaking about himself to the press. Even though the media follows him everywhere he goes, he’s one of very few celebrities who prefer to let their work do the talking.
- A balanced life is of the utmost importance: Even if he does just one movie every two or three years, the actor believes it is important to find time to meditate and unwind.”I go to the Himalayas after every film. I go alone, without anybody. I go into the interiors, to the Himalayan villages. Being there itself is like meditation. I’ve been going there for 15 years, I started going to the Himalayas in 1995 – Rajinikanth”
Not only this but let’s celebrate Thalaivar’s birthday with a special announcement by the Jailer team sharp at 8.30pm today. (12.12.2022)
Muthuvel Pandian arrives at 12.12.22
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