Before Watching Kochadaiiyaan, Check Out These 10 Facts You Didn’t Know About Rajinikanth

You need not be a Bollywood fan to know Rajinikanth. He is a phenomenon, an institution in himself. And his popularity can be gauged from the fact that his fans just worship him. As the Thalaiva’s upcoming film Kochadaiiyaan is all set to be released next month, let us take a look at some facts you never knew about Rajini Saar.

1. He was born as Shivaji Rao Gaikwad in a Marathi family in Mysore, Bangalore. Although his mother tongue is Marathi, the actor has not done a single Marathi film in his career.

2. Rajinikanth lost his mother when he was barely 11. As a kid, he was very fond of listening to stories about his mother Jakkubai from his brother.

3. Films were not the first career choice for Rajinikanth. Before making it big in movies, he had done odd jobs, working as a porter, a carpenter and finally, as a bus conductor for Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation.

4. Although he took time to make his movie debut, Rajinikanth was passionate about acting since his childhood. In his school plays, he enjoyed playing a villain and Ravana was his favourite character.

5. Rajinikanth is known for his action movies, which involves a lot of bloodshed. However, not many would know that he has never really hurt himself or died on-screen. Film-makers don’t allow him to die in movies because his fans can’t accept it and may even set fire to the theatres.

6. After taking home a fat pay cheque of Rs 260 million for his role in Sivaji (2007), Rajinikanth became the highest paid actor in Asia after Jackie Chan.

7. Rajinikanth considers director K. Balachandran as his mentor. Balachandran also directed Rajini’s national award-winning debut Tamil film, Apoorva Raagangal.

8. Rajinikanth is the only Indian actor to be featured in the CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) syllabus, in a lesson titled From Bus Conductor to Superstar.

9. The actor is known to take a break in the Himalayas after every film. Wherever he goes, the hotel staff members make sure that he is allotted the same room.

10. His favourite actor is Kamal Haasan.