Superstar Rajinikanth has been ruling the hearts of movie buffs for decades now. The actor enjoys a loyal fanbase in the South as well as in Bollywood
Ruling the silver screen
Image: Rajinikanth Instagram
Image: Aishwaryaa Rajinikanth Instagram
Who amongst us is not familiar of his inspiring tale ? From being a bus conductor to becoming a legendary actor, his journey is truly fabulous
A 'rags to riches' tale
Coming from a humble middle-class family, he worked as a coolie, a carpenter, among other odd jobs to support himself
Image: Soundarya Rajinikanth Instagram
Odd jobs
Image: Soundarya Rajinikanth Instagram
Later, he gave an exam with the Bangalore Transport Service and started working as a bus conductor
A bus conductor
As he was always fond of acting, Thalaiva started doing theater to satisfy his acting bug
Image: Aishwaryaa Rajinikanth Instagram
The acting bug
It was then, that the yesteryear legend Sivaji Ganesan discovered his raw talent
Image: IMDb
A Sivaji Ganesan prodigy
The superstar got himself enrolled at the Madras Film Institute with some financial help from a friend and was noticed by the Tamil film director K. Balachander
Image: IMDb
Madras Film Institute
He made his acting debut in 1975 with the romantic entertainer, Apoorva Raagangal, in which he did a small role
Image: IMDb
Acting debut
Following this, he bagged his first film as the lead in 1981, Thillu Mullu. The drama was a remake of the Hindi film GolMaal
Image: IMDb
During the early days, it was a horse race between Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth. While Thalaiva played the angry young man, Kamal Haasan was seen as a romantic hero