Rajinikanth-A journey like no other: Part 1: How K Balachander changed life of a bus conductor

It is not every day that one could say that they have had a cinematic life. In fact, for most parts of the world, ‘rags to riches’ ends with two and a half hours of a film, or 250 pages of a book, while in reality what one sees around them is that the 'Rich get richer, while the poor get poorer,' to quote Percy Bysshe Shelly, quite hastily nonetheless. 

Throughout history, it has always been a tedious task to break through the status quo, swim against the tides, and make a name for yourself. However, once in a blue moon,  there happens to be one person… rather a phenomenon, that can break this cycle, and emerge as nothing short of a 'Superstar'. Undeniably, in the field of cinema, that name is Rajinikanth. 

Humble beginnings

Prior to the rosy stardom, and the Superstar status that Rajinikanth enjoys today, his journey has been quite difficult. Born in a Marathi Hindu family, to a homemaker and a police constable, Sivaji Rao Gaekwad was the youngest of four siblings. Young Sivaji lived in a humble abode in Bangalore and was just nine when he lost his mother. 

His father had retired for three years by that time as well. It was Sivaji’s brother Satyanarayana Rao, who took care of him, enrolling him into a Government school, as well as the Ramakrishna Math. The latter played a major role in shaping Rajinikanth’s life, and beliefs, instilling in him a sense of spirituality that the actor still possesses greatly today. 

In a sense, the Math was young Sivaji’s introduction to the world of performing arts as well, where he performed several plays and even garnered praise for his performances. The curious young mind quickly grew fond of the craft, however, circumstances seemed to be against him. After his pre-university education, the actor had to work several jobs, including that of a coolie, and most famously, a bus conductor. All the while, still performing in plays when he got the time. 

Did you know Rajinikanth's then-girlfriend, Nirmala, whom he lovingly called Nimmy, was the one who enrolled him into the Adayar Film Institute?

As per an article by The Week, the Padayappa actor’s then-girlfriend, Nirmala, whom he lovingly called Nimmy, was the one who enrolled him into the Adayar Film Institute, that too unbeknownst to him. She even provided him with the initial finance that he would require in Chennai. However, the duo soon lost touch and were not able to reconcile, although the actor has tried on several occasions. 

The Baasha actor has remarked on several occasions that it was his best friend, Raj Bahadur, who was working as the driver in the bus Sivaji was a conductor in, that motivated him to pursue acting, even financially supporting him while he was in the Adayar Film Institute. The duo remains best of friends to this day.

Sivaji Rao Gaekwad gets a more famous alter-ego

It cannot be argued that Adayar Film Institute was a turning point in Sivaji Rao Gaekwad’s life. The soon-to-be actor was a part of the Kannada batch at the Film Institute, when he was spotted by K. Balachander, one of the most influential filmmakers in Tamil cinema, and is credited with introducing several future stars including the likes of Kamal Haasan and Sridevi. The filmmaker has also inspired several filmmakers that would follow, including Mani Ratnam. 

Did you know K. Balachander rechristened Sivaji Rao Gaekwad as Rajinikanth to avoid confusion with Sivaji Ganesan?

Kamal Haasan has recalled an incident during an award show, where K. Balachander was taking auditions for his upcoming film, titled Apoorva Ragangal. As expected, there were several actors auditioning, with people even traveling from the Film Institute in Pune to audition. However, the filmmaker spotted a shy young man standing outside the window, watching the auditions. He finalized that he wanted him to play the character in the film. A young Kannada-speaking man named Sivaji Rao Gaekwad.

The filmmaker asked Sivaji to learn Tamil, an advice that the young man quickly took up. K. Balachander also rechristened Sivaji Rao Gaekwad as Rajinikanth in order to avoid confusion with Sivaji Ganesan, who was already an established star back then. In an interview with his mentor in 2010, Rajinikanth revealed that the filmmaker gave him the name on the day of Holi in 1975.

Apoorva Ragangal was released on August 15, 1975, the same day as the Amitabh Bachchan and Dharmendra starrer Sholay, which went on to become the highest-grossing film of the year. Rajinikanth played the minor role of the ex-husband of Kamal Haasan’s love interest, played by Srividya. The part was noticed, and received acclaim, with the Hindu even citing that the role was dignified and impressive.

Apoorva Ragangal was a commercial and critical success, despite having a box office clash with Sholay. The film was screened actively in theaters for more than a hundred days, with M. Karunanidhi, the then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu praising the film as well. 

As per reports, Rajinikanth and Raj Bahadur went to the film together, with the former coming out in tears. His reason? He was on the screen finally. Needless to say, those were tears of joy.

Apoorva Ragangal set the tone

Although it was a minor role, Rajinikanth’s performance in Apoorva Ragangal gained widespread acclaim. The actor soon received a flurry of offers and was featured in more than 50 films in the five years that followed. 

Karthik Subbaraj hadn’t deviated much from the truth when he mentioned in his latest film that there was no dark-skinned hero back in the 1970s. The case wasn’t much different with Rajinikanth as well. The actor was typecast in negatively shaded roles in the early phase of his career. Soon after his Tamil debut, the actor made his Telugu and Kannada debuts as well, with Anthuleni Katha and Katha Sangama respectively. 

Rajinikanth became one of the top choices to play negative shaded roles

His first major role came in the 1976 film Moondru Mudichu, which was also helmed by K. Balachander. It was established Rajinikanth became one of the top choices of the time to play negative shaded roles. In fact, he played the lead antagonist in the 1976 Kannada film Baalu Jenu, where he portrayed the character of a vagabond. He portrayed similar roles in his mentor's movie Avargal, as well as Bharathi Raja’s 16 Vayadhinile. 

It was SP Muthuraman who attempted to go against the stereotype and cast the Petta actor in a positive shaded role for the first time in his 1977 drama film Bhuvana Oru Kelvi Kuri, which featured Sivakumar and Sumithra in the lead roles. The fans were shocked to see Rajinikanth, whom they were used to seeing as a negative character in a positive role. Rajinikanth’s role in the film paved the way for the paradigm shift in the way the actor was portrayed on screen.

Needless to say, a change does not happen with a single film. Bhuvana Oru Kelvi Kuri was just the first of many, but the actor was still considered a perfect fit to portray negative roles. The actor received several secondary positive roles since the 1977 film. It was in the 1978 film Bairavi, helmed by M Bhaskar that Rajinikanth portrayed a protagonist for the first time in his career. The film was a blockbuster hit. In fact, the producer of the film, S Thanu, set up a cutout of Rajinikanth that was 11 meters high to promote, as well as celebrate the film, a practice that went on to become commonplace for the actor.

As he would soon get to know, the cutouts were not the only factor that would become commonplace. In 1978, the actor featured in the Tamil drama film Vanakkatukuriya Kathaliye, helmed by AC Tirulokachander. The film featured Rajinikanth making his entrance to a song, a trend that soon caught on as well. The same year, the actor also featured in Mahendran’s Mullum Malarum, a performance that earned him a Special Prize in the year’s State Film Awards. 

In 1979, the Darbar actor also made his Malayalam debut with Alauddinum Albutha Vilakkum helmed by IV Sasi. The film received mixed reviews from the audience. However, Rajinikanth’s performance in the film was praised.

In the period between his debut in 1975 and 1980, Rajinikanth was undeniably one of the fastest-growing actors in Tamil cinema. Not only had the actor made a name for himself, he was slowly escaping the trap of being typecast, and proving to the audience that he could perform well in protagonist roles as well.

The sky was the limit for this new face in the Tamil film industry. But, Rajinikanth had other plans in mind. He decided to surprise the audience once again, only this time, the surprise was off-screen. In 1979, much to everyone’s surprise, Rajinikanth announced his retirement from acting, leaving behind a rising graph that was yet to reach its peak.

Why such a decision? Would he make his comeback? Or was it just a short-lived cameo for Sivaji Rao Gaekwad in the film industry? 

TO BE CONTINUED IN PART 2/4…

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