Kamal Hassan History

kamal history

kamal Hassan Born - 7 November 1954
Achievements - Kamal Haasan is one of India's most proficient actors, who started his acting career as a child artist. He has worked in some 200 Indian movies and has been honored with the National Film Award four times. Throughout his life, he has also been an avid theatre artist.

Kamal Haasan is one of India's most proficient actors. Born on 7 November 1954, Kamal Haasan began his career in movies as a child artist. Thereafter, he went to work in some 200 Indian movies and has been honored with the National Film Award four times. Throughout his life, he has also been an avid theatre artist. In order to underscore his contribution to Indian cinema, the Government of India conferred upon him the country's fourth highest civilian honor, the Padma Shri in the year 1990.

Read on about the biography of Kamal Haasan, who is the youngest of the four children born to Rajalakshmi and Srinivasan. He has a plethora of good films to his credit like Moondram Pirai (1982), Saagara Sangamam (1983), Nayagan (1987), Indian (1996) and Hey Ram (2000). Kamal Haasan is also an incredible playback singer and has even written the lyrics of a number of his film songs. A bundle of talent, Haasan is also a Bharatanatyam dancer and has choreographed few dances for his movies.

The life history of Kamal Haasan's career kick started in the 1960s at the age of six, when he debuted into films with Kalathur Kannamma. This movie was made by AVM production and won him the first National Award for Best Child Artist. As an adult actor, Kamal Haasan received a mixed response with movies like Avargal, Aval Oru Thodarkathai, Solla Thaan Ninaikkiren, Maanavan and Kumara Vijayam. His time changed for the better with the release of 16 Vayathinile with Sridevi.

Kamal Haasan and Sri Devi became a popular acting pair and acted together in 23 films. In many films that came out in late 1970s, Haasan was usually the hero with Rajinikanth as the villain. This was the time he started experimenting with his roles and essayed various genres like that of a village innocent in 16 Vayathinile, a disco jockey in Ilamai Oonjaladugiradhu, a psychopath serial killer of women in Sigappu Rojakkal and so on. He has received many awards for acting.

Ajith History

Ajith Kumar History

Ajith Kumar (Tamil: அஜித் குமார்) (born 1 May 1972 in Hyderabad, Andra Pradesh, India) is an Indian film actor, considered one of the leading actors of the Tamil film industry.[1] He began his career in a Telugu film before gaining critical recognition in the psychological thriller Aasai(1995).[2] A string of successful films followed establishing Ajith initially as a romantic hero, then as an action hero and finally as a mass icon.

Often praised for his performances, he has won three Filmfare Best Actor Awards in Tamil, all three for films which showcased him in multiple roles. Ajith performs predominantly in leading roles in major studio films, ranging from romantic comedies and drama to action thrillers. In addition to his acting, Ajith in a sabbatical, participated in the 2004 British Formula Three season as a professional racer.[1]


Acting career
Early years
Ajith was born as the middle child in Hyderabad, India, into a typical middle class Indian household without links to the film industry whatsoever. He was brought up in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He dropped out of Asan Memorial Senior Secondary School in 1986 before completing his higher secondary.[3]

He took up work as a mechanic, and got himself a driver's licence to coincide with his interests, that of racing. At 18, Ajith had to take up a job to support his career in racing. Joining as an apprentice, he rose to be a merchandiser with a garment export company, doing small-time press ads and TV commercials occasionally. He had put a lot of money into racing and would borrow tyres from his friends who used to help when the chains wore out as there was no money in racing at that time.

Following an accident, several business agencies pushed him into modeling for advertisements in print media. He had to make a choice between films and racing, and as the movies were happening and generating him some money, he began concentrating on it.[3]

Aged 20, Ajith was selected by Telugu film producers, Lakshmi Productions, to star in their film; however shooting was stalled soon after filming began, following the death of the film's director.[4] Ajith then started his film career at the age of 21 appearing in the low budget Telugu film, Prema Pustagam in 1992, which remains his last direct Telugu film to date.

His first Tamil film Amaravathi, directed by then newcomer Selva, was an instant success and his voice was rendered by fellow actor, Vikram.[3] After the release, Ajith whilst training for an amateur motor race, suffered a fall, injuring his back and underwent three major surgeries resulting in a bed rest for one and a half years.[4] Following the injury in 1993, Ajith played a supporting role in the Arvind Swamy starrer, Paasamalargal, before appearing in a meaty role in the family drama, Pavithra, which featured him as an ailing patient shown maternal affection from Raadhika.

Romantic Hero (1995-2000)
During this period, Ajith came to be seen by the media as a promising romantic hero as Ajith overtook other established romantic heroes like Murali, Parthipan, Prashanth, Arvind Swamy, Karthik and Prabu in box office ranks in the ledgers of distributors. Also, Ajith gained a notoriety for his freewheeling interviews.

In 1995, Ajith was cast in his first blockbuster, Aasai which grossed $1 million at the box office. The film directed by Vasanth and produced by Mani Ratnam, featured him in the lead role opposite Suvalakshmi.[2][6] Agathiyan's Vaanmathi was also a musical hit and he later played the lead in Kalloori Vaasal co-starring Prashanth.[3]

The very next year, Ajith's second blockbuster came in the form of National Award winning Kadhal Kottai, in which he reunited with Agathiyan.[7] The film which told the tale of two people falling in unconditional love without seeing each other until the climax. The film grossed $2 million at the box office.[8]

In 1997, he was cast in Amitabh Bachchan's first Tamil production Ullasam.[3]

In 1998, Ajith was cast in Saran's Kadhal Mannan, with the "masala film" setting the foundations for an expanding fan base.[3] Following films Aval Varuvala and Unnidathil Ennai Koduthen also became successes, with the latter featuring Ajith in a praised guest role.

In 1999, Sundar C's romantic drama Unnaithedi became a hit and set the tone for a series of quick victories. S. J. Suryaah's blockbuster thriller, Vaali, which portrayed him in dual roles, as hero and villain, grossed $3 million at the box office.[4] Ajith's convincing portrayal of the two brothers with symmetrically opposite attributes won him his first awards for Filmfare's Best Actor.[9] Furthermore the tricky role was also praised by critics claiming that the film was an "instant classic".[10] The two following supporting roles in the melodrama hits Anandha Poongatre and Nee Varuvai Ena also brought Ajith plaudits for his understated portrayals. His final project before the new millennium was Amarkalam directed by Saran and featuring Shalini, whom he married shortly after the film.[11]

Mugavari, won him commercial and critical praise.[12][13] He was cast in A. R. Rahman's 2000 musical hit Kandukondain Kandukondain directed by Rajiv Menon. The film featured Ajith alongside prominent actors Mammooty and Aishwarya Rai.[14][15][16][11]

Action Hero (2000-05)
During this period, Ajith came to be seen by his fans and the media as not just another romantic hero but as a stylish action hero with immense screen presence. However, this period too witnessed a growing rift with the media due to his "no exclusive" policy.

In 2001, Ajith appeared in Dheena, A. R. Murugadoss's debut film co-starring Laila Mehdin and Suresh Gopi. The film, indirectly marked the beginning of a new image of Ajith, that of an action hero that would appeal to the masses. Furthermore from the successful film, Ajith's nickname in the film, Thalai, Tamil for Leader, became a new brand label for the actor among his fans and media. His next project was the cult film Citizen, portraying Ajith in ten different get-ups. He was annotated as Ultimate Star in the film. This honorary title came to be used in all his films throughout the rest of the decade. A role in the melodrama, Poovellam Un Vasam followed opposite Jyothika and was a success commercially and critically earning a Special Best Actor Award from the Tamil Nadu State. The year ended off with an appearance in Santosh Sivan's Hindi project, Asoka, in which Ajith appeared in a brief negative role alongside Shah Rukh Khan.

The year 2002 saw Ajith appear in three films, the first two; Red and Raja being average grossers. However the the third film, Villain, in which Ajith appeared in dual roles, one as a mentally ill handicap, became a blockbuster grossing over $5 million at the box office and also earning Ajith his second Filmfare Best Tamil Actor Award. By then, distributors had recognised Ajith's star value labelling him as the King of Opening.[17]

The following years, from 2003 through 2005, saw Ajith appear in a fewer amount of films due to his focus in motor car racing. The year 2003 saw the release of his long-delayed Ennai Thalatta Varuvala and the cop-thriller Anjaneya.

His next project Jana with Sneha was panned by critics while the Saran film, Attagasam emerged successful. The film, saw Ajith portray dual roles, with a song, Thalai Deepavali penned to promote his action hero image and cementing his nickname Thalai in the media.

In 2005, the Linguswamy film Ji, despite garnering positive reviews, did not sustain the success momentum given by Attagasam.
[edit] Mass Icon (2005-present)

During this period, Ajith's films came to be noted for ever-growing opening power, at the box office, due to his strong male-oriented fanbase. He came to be seen by his fans and the media as not just another action hero but a mass icon.

During 2006, Ajith returned from his hiatus by appearing in P. Vasu's Paramasivan for which he had lost twenty kilograms to portray the lead role. Similarly his next, AVM Productions's, Thirupathi directed by Perarasu got positive media reviews. Ajith summed up a successful comeback by the release of his long-delayed blockbuster, Varalaru which went on to gross $12 million at the box office marking a new career peak. The film also fetched Ajith his third Filmfare Best Actor award.

Ajith's first release in 2007, Aalwar was however panned by critics while Kireedam, a remake of the 1989 National Award winning Malayalam film got overwhelmingly postive reviews. Ajith then starred in a remake of a 1980s Rajinikanth starrer, Billa, a blockbuster that grossed $14 million at the box office thus cooking up pressure for his rivals.[18] The film fetched critical praise for Ajith, becoming a trendsetter for stylish art direction and cinematography in India.

In 2008, he was cast in Ayngaran International production Aegan, directed by the choreographer turned director Raju Sundaram. The film was a remake of the 2004 Hindi comedy Main Hoon Na.

Following a year's worth of production, Ajith's latest release, Aasal, a racy blockbuster thriller, that he co-directed, narrating inter-sibling rivalry, released in February 2010, had the widest ever opening grossing $13 million at the box office in the first two weeks. He was under contract to be paid a remuneration of $1.25 million in cash plus a 30 per cent share of the profit from sales of rights of the film.[19]

Racing career
Ajith is a professional "car racer" and has driven in circuits around India in places such as Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi. He has also been abroad for various races including Germany and Malaysia. He drove in 2003 Formula Asia BMW Championships[20].
[edit] Personal life

Ajith comes from a synchretic culture as his father was a Tamil Brahmin from Palakkad named P. Subramaniam and his mother Mohini was of Sindhi origin from Kolkata, West Bengal.[1][21][1] Ajith later created the non-profit organisation "Mohini-Mani Foundation", named after his parents, in order to promote self-hygiene and civic consciousness and to help ease the problems of urban sprawl.[22] Ajith Kumar was the middle son out of three brothers, the others being Anil Kumar, a stock broker in New York and Anoop Kumar, an IIT Madras graduate working in Seattle. Moreover, Ajith had younger twin sisters, both of whom died young.[1] Through his marriage to actress Shalini[23][24], Ajith became brother-in-law to actor, Richard Rishi, and actress Shamili, who appeared as his sister-in-law in Rajiv Menon's Kandukondain Kandukondain.
On 3 January 2008, his daughter, Anoushka, was born in Chennai.[25]

Awards and nominations
Won:

* Filmfare Best Actor Award for Vaali (1999)
* Filmfare Best Actor Award for Villain (2002)
* Filmfare Best Actor Award for Varalaru: History of Godfather (2006)
* Tamil Nadu State Film Special Award for Best Actor for Poovellam Un Vaasam (2001)
* Vijay Award for Favourite Hero for Varalaru: History of Godfather (2006)

Nominated

* Zee Cine Award for Best Actor in a Negative Role for Asoka (2001)
* Vijay Award for Favourite Hero for Aegan (2008)

Vijay History

Early life

Vijay was born on June 22, 1974, to film producer and director S. A. Chandrasekhar and Shoba Chandrasekhar, a classical and a playback singer. He had a sister named Vidhya Chandrasekhar who died at the age of two.[3][unreliable source?] Vijay went on to do his schooling in Balalok in Virugambakkam and discontinued in Visual Communications at Loyola College, Chennai.[4][dead link]
Acting career

Vijay debuted as a role actor in the 1992 film Naalaya Theerpu, produced by his father. After a few other films, he co-stared with Vijayakanth in the film Sendhoorapandi. This film helped Vijay to become popular in the interior areas of Tamil Nadu. Films like Rasigan, Vishnu, and Deva were low-budget movies established him to audiences. Vijay is also one of the few lead actors of his generation to co-star with veteran actor Sivaji Ganesan. This opportunity came in the film Once More, directed by his father S. A. Chandrasekhar in 1996.

The year 1996 he found his first success in the Vikraman-directed film Poove Unakkaga which helped Vijay to establish as a emerging star in Tamil films. In 1997 he acted in the Vasanth film Nerrukku Ner along with Surya Sivakumar. This film was produced by Mani Ratnam. Then he acted in Kadhalukku Mariyadhai directed by Fazil. Kadhalukku Mariyadhai was a blockbuster and made Vijay receive that year's Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actor.

In 1998, Vijay worked in Priyamudan and Thulladha Manamum Thullum which were huge hits at box office. Then the following films Endrendrum Kadhal, Nenjinile, Minsara Kanna failed miscerably at box-office. Then he did Kannukkul Nilavu with Fazil but the movie failed at boxoffice even his acting was praised. He decided not to commit in films that took a year to release, which changed his trend. His next venture Kushi was a blockbuster. The following film Friends was also a blockbuster.

Later on, he starred in Shahjahan, Thamizhan which were average grossers at box office. However, the films that followed Bagavathi ,Vaseegara, Pudhiya Geethai, and his delayed film Udhaya became low grossers and flopped. This highly affected Vijay's success rate and he was looked down upon by film critics and producers.

His string of failure films was broken by Thirumalai in 2003 which had Vijay in a new facial appearance. Ghilli, which was released in 2004, is considered to be one of Vijay's biggest hits today. Directed by Dharani and produced by A. M. Rathnam, it was a remake of the Telugu film Okkadu, and ran for 200 days in theatres in Tamil Nadu. Then came Madhurey which was a average grosser at box office . It was in this year which Vijay began to portray his current mass-hero, stereotypical acting style, giving him a major turning point in his career. The following year had Thirupaachi, Sachien and Sivakasi which were huge hits.

Vijay's unsuccessful film since the release of Thirumalai was Aathi , which released in 2006. This film failed miserably at box-office. Later that year he announced Pokkiri, directed by Prabhu Deva, which released in 2007. Pokkiri had met almost the same success as Ghilli did, in which Vijay was given a different style to act as. This made Vijay receive an honorary doctorate title from the M. G. R. University. Later that year, Vijay appeared in Azhagiya Thamizh Magan, and for the first time, he appeared in dual roles, as the antagonist and protagonist. In 2008, he starred in Kuruvi, again under Dharani's direction.

The year 2009 started off with the action mass film Villu, which was directed by Prabhu Deva who was keen on working with him again after Pokkiri. The film had Vijay in dual roles for the second time in his career. Vijay's next film Vettaikkaaran, directed by Babu Sivan, produced by AVM Productions and distributed by Sun Pictures, which began filming in February 2009 and was released on December 18, 2009 was a commercial hit. Vijay is currently acting in Sura, in which he will co-star Tamanna Bhatia, directed by SP Rajkumar and produced by Sangili Murugan. This will be Vijay's first maiden venture as a director in Tamil Cinema. Directors M. Raja and N. Lingusamy have also confirmed that they will be casting Vijay in their next respective films.
Brand endorsement

In the year 2002, Vijay was chosen as Coca Cola's brand ambassador in Tamil Nadu. He had acted in a variety of South Indian Coca Cola advertisements, along with Shriya Saran in 2001 before shriya become leading lady in tamil and acted along with Vijay in the film Azhagiya Tamil Magan which was released in 2007. Besides that Vijay also acted with famous bollywood actress Katrina Kaif. In January 2009, Vijay was once again chosen as the brand ambassador for Coca Cola products.[5]

In 2008, Vijay was signed up as the star ambassador for the Indian Premier League cricket team Chennai Super Kings, along with actress Nayantara.


Awards and honours

Vijay won his first film award at the 1997 Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, where he was given the Special Prize for Best Actor. He later went on to receiving more awards in the same category for the films Thulladha Manamum Thullum (1999) and Thirupaachi (2005).[citation needed] During the Reliance Mobile Vijay Awards 2007, Vijay won the Entertainer of the Year Award for his performance in the films Pokkiri and Azhagiya Thamizh Magan.[6] In 2005, Radio Mirchi, Chennai in association with Spark 2005 Advertising Club, Chennai gave Vijay an Silver Jubilee award for Public Service Announcement.[7] In 2007, Vijay was given an honorary doctorate diploma from the M. G. R. University, Chennai along with S. Shankar.
Personal life

Vijay married London-based Sri Lankan Tamil Sangeetha Sornalingam[8][9] on August 25, 1999.[4][dead link] They have two children a son, Jason Sanjay, born in 2001 in London[10] and a daughter, Divya Sasha born in 2005 in Chennai.[1] Jason Sanjay is known for making a special appearance in Vijay's film Vettaikkaaran.

Rajini History

Rajinikanth Early Life

Rajinikanth was born on December 12 1949 in Karnataka, India. He was the fourth child to his parents Ramabai and Ramoji Rao Gaekwad. His original name was Shivaji Rao Gaekwad. He lost his mother at the age of five. He had his schooling at the Acharya Patasala in Bangalore and then at the Vivekananda Balak Sangh, a unit of the Ramakrishna Mission. His mother tongue is Marathi, though he has not done any movie in it.
Before starting his career in the film industry, he had to take up all sorts of odd jobs. He served as a bus conductor for Karnataka state transport corporation in Bangalore. It was during this time that he nurtured his acting interests by performing in various stage plays.

Rajinikanth History

Rajini, the real mantra of Tamil Nadu. Rajinikanth, the carpenter-turned-coolie-turned-conductor-turned Super Star says: "I couldn't have asked God for more."
A bit of a recluse, Rajni may be. But everyone who's had the privelege of a darshan with the thalaivar has come away with a spring in his step and a warm glow in the heart. Warm, friendly and affable, he's the sort who deserves all the superstardom he's earned. Such men, indeed, are rare...

The evergreen unique actor and the Superstar of Tamil industry, Rajinikanth was introduced by the renowned director, K.Balachandar in the movie Aboorva raagangal as a co-artist. It's been 25 years, believe it or not, since the Super Star made his debut with an inconsequential role in a Tamil film. From villain and antihero to blockbuster supernova, the gifted actor has made the most of every outing. And he's deserved every bit of the success. SCREEN analyses why...

It's a wide angle shot. A man is seen opening a gate, dressed in rags and smoking a beedi. A terminally ill disease writ large on his face. Precisely on that frame appears the Sanskrit term shruthi bedham, coupled with an off screen voice, an undoubtedly inauspicious start to any debutante's first screen appearance, especially in the maiden frame.

The film was Apoorva Raagangal (1975). The film itself was thick in controversy, and nobody took notice of the young newcomer, who was on screen barely for fifteen minutes, muttered a few apologetic words to the wronged woman and ultimately died an unsung, unheroic death.

No one in the audience, even in his wildest imagination, would have thought this nondescript man, who had won the least attention in the film would ever win over millions of hearts in Tamil Nadu. Or ride the state like a colossus. Or even that his sway over the masses would be so intense that he could rewrite the fate of Tamil Nadu politics, exactly two decades after the release of his first film.

K Balachander, the director who has an uncanny knack of creating stars, first met Rajnikant at the film institute, where he was a student. Balachander glanced at the dark young man and crisply asked him to meet him in his office the next day. When Rajnikant walked into his office gingerly, Balachander informed him he was going to act in his next film. Overwhelmed by the sudden offer from a big director, Rajnikant just could not believe his ears. It's a feeling Rajni still recounts whenever in the mood of reminiscence.

Later, Balachander confided in his close friend and associate Ananthu, Watch out! There is a fire in the young man's eyes. One day he will take Tamil Nadu by storm. How true the prediction turned out!

Producers went all out to capitalise on this new wonder called Rajnikant, and a string of films projecting him as an anti-hero, with all his stylish mannerisms in full swing, were released in quick succession. Gayathri had him shooting blue films of his wife without her knowledge, Bhairavi, Shankar Salim Simon and the like. Rajni had, by now, become an indisputable star in his own right, a force to reckon with.

Though Rajnikant persistently refers to K. Balachander as his guru, it was director SP Muthuraman who actually revamped Rajni's image entirely. Muthuraman first experimented with him in a positive role in Bhuvana Oru Kelvikkuri, as a villain in the first half and a refined man in the second, accepting a woman with a child ditched by her lover. The success of Bhuvana Oru Kelvikkuri prompted SPM to make a mushy melodrama with Rajni as a hero sacrificing everything for his siblings, a role ideally tailormade for Sivaji Ganesan! That film was Arulirunthu Arupathu Varai, in which Rajni's mannerisms were totally missing and he even appeared as an old man in the last few frames. Even while the film was in the making, Rajni had misgivings about whether the audience would accept him in tear jerkers of this kind. But the film got made and its box-office success made Rajni popular among women audiences, too. These two films were a turning point in Rajni's career he changed from an actor who merely enthralled the audiences, to one who also made them weep. The acceptance of Rajni sans his mannerisms proved he'd at last become an actor from a star. Around this time came Mullum Malarum, directed by J Mahendran, which established Rajni as a hero with a slight tinge of the negative.

Rajnikant's entry may have been humble, in an insignificant role but the success he achieved in a very short span was unimaginable. A popular Tamil magazine brought out a special supplement at a time when his still on the make, and, he presto, the magazine's sales doubled with that issue alone.

Such mass adulation, the thunderous rain of applause when Rajni delivered his lines, all put together, made him a phenomenon. It was at this point that Rajni realised the onus had been thrust on him. The fate of producers hinged on him alone. This sudden exposure to the glare of the media and the popularity and money he never imagined would be his, created a lot of stress in his mind. At that crucial time in his career when his market price had just begun to zoom, he decided to opt out of films completely, sending shock waves to his fans. Balachander, Kamalhaasan and his other well-wishers somehow, coaxed him into staying on.

The second phase of his life started with K Balaji's Billa, a superhit disproving the canard spread by detractors that Rajnikant was finished. He was accepted as a full-fledged hero. Billa was followed by a row of hits like Pokkiri Raja, Thanikkattu Raja, Naan Mahaan Alla and the all-important Moondru Mugham, in which Rajni essayed a triple role. Even two decades after its release, the last continues to be a box-office draw and Rajni's fans can never tire of the thalaivar's verbal clash with villain Senthamarai.
K Balachander's first home production, Nettrikkam proved to be yet another milestone in Rajni's career.

An analysis of Rajni's career graph shows a remarkable absence of fits and starts. It has been a slow and steady rise to the very top. As Rajni sings in a hit song from Badshah, a man's life may be divided into eight divisions. Rajni's own career may be divided into three segments. The first as a villain, the second as a hero with negative traits, and the third and present phase, as the reigning czar of Tamil filmdom. With Rajni's films fetching crores and his market price skyrocketing, the costs of production of his films became unmanageable. And Rajni has since had to stick to a one film per year formula, sometimes, he could do a film once in two years.

The new trend where his films' collections exceed normal regional film expectations started off with Badshah, followed by Annamalai, Arunachalam, Ejaman, Muthu and Padayappa. It's now an accepted fact that only a Rajnikant film can break records set by his own films.

As an actor, Rajnikant's greatest asset, apart from his style is his sense of humour and comic timing. Like Amitabh Bachchan is popular for his drunken soliloquies, Rajnikant is famous for his comic encounters with snakes, repeated umpteen times.

In the early 80s, Rajnikant made a foray into Bollywood with Andhaa Kanoon, a superhit. But Rajnikant could not concentrate on Hindi films because he was already safely ensconced down South. He still made a few films in Hindi, to mention specially Chaalbaaz which had Sridevi in a dual role. Rajni also enjoys a special kind of popularity in Telugu films and his Peddarayudu (remake of Tamil hit Nattammai) seems to have broken all previous records. The Telugu version of Padayappa has been a money-spinner, too. Rajnikant became a trendsetter recently with his Muthu and its songs becoming a rage in Japan and now, Padayappa running to packed houses in the UK and USA.

Basically a religious person, Rajnikant has always owned up his faith. "I was brought up by the Ramakrishna Mission and it's from there that I have inherited this religious frame of mind," he keeps saying. Even his films have him openly sharing his faith. In Arunachalam he mouths that famous line, "God decides and Arunachalam executes it." His public meetings are always spiced with humour and embellished with anecdotes from mythology.

Married to Lata, an English literature graduate, hailing from an elite Iyengar family in 1980, Rajni has two daughters who are carefully kept away from the limelight. Lata herself a versatile singer, now runs a school called The Ashram. The couple indulges in a lot of charity, the latest being converting his Raghavendra Kalyana Mandapam into a charitable trust to help the poor and needy.

Ego and starry airs are unknown to Rajnikant. During breaks he hardly ever rushes to his air-conditioned makeup room. Instead, he prefers to sleep on the sets, even without a pillow, merely covering his eyes with a wet cloth. He never comes to functions with a retinue behind him and even prefers to drive his own car.

Rajnikant's phenomenal success and his sway over the masses make people speculate whether he will follow the footsteps of the late MGR and enter politics. Though there has been a lot of pressure on him to enter politics by the likes of actor turned journalist, Cho Ramaswamy ("Rajnikant is the best choice for chief ministership because he has a basic integrity and simplicity, a quality which is very rare these days") Rajnikant has persistently maintained a diplomatic silence, except for the fact that he openly supported the ruling DMK in the last assembly elections and discreetly in the recent Lok Sabha elections. When pressed, Rajnikant answers in his own inimitable style, "Yesterday I was a conductor, today I'm a star, tomorrow what I'll be only He knows!"

A bit of a recluse, he may be at heart, but everyone who's had the privilege of a darshan with the thalaivar has come away with a spring in his step, and a warm glow in his heart. Warm, friendly and affable, he's the sort who deserves all the superstardom he's earned. Such men, indeed, are rare.