Southern superstar Rajinikanth , who has not only impressed the South with his acting, but also the Bollywood, celebrates his birthday today. Born in a Marathi family as Shivaji Rao Gaikwad, he began as a bus conductor. It was only after filmmaker K.Balachander, noticed his acting skills, suggested that he learns Tamil.

He made his acting debut in Tamil film by the same filmmaker, named' Apoorva Raangangal' which also casted Kamal Haasan . However after the film, he had played negative roles in continuity until playing a positive on SP Muthuraman's film. His first lead role was in the Tamil film 'Bairavi'.

As the 80s had ended, Rajinikanth had already gained widespread popularity in the South. His Bollywood debut was ' Andhaa Kaanoon ' which starred Hema Malini and Amitabh Bachchan .

Now known to be one of Indian iconic personalities he was awarded the Entertainer of The Decade Award presented by NDTV in 2011, given by P.Chidambaram, the then Home Minister.