|
 He
was born in Karnataka. His mother toungue is Marathi. He is 59. He
was employed as a bus conductor, when he caught the fancy of the bus
travellers with his mannerisms and style of issuing tickets and
blowing the whistle.Then he joined the Madras Film Institute, which
was at that time functioning in the building where the South Indian
Film Chamber is now situated.. It was here that he caught the eye of
K. Balachander. He made his debut in Katha Sangama (1975) and became
a star with Apoorva Raagangal (1975).
Yes, you have guessed it right. He is Shivaji Rao Gaekwad or
Rajnikanth, the evergreen super mega- star of Tamil movies. He has
been at the peak for over quarter century now.
He has had his political ambitions too. He wanted to
float a party. He has openly declared his support to other political
parties during State elections.
His biography, released recently has thrown some
light on his political facet.
Former prime minister Narasimha Rao had offered to
make him the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu if he contested as a
Congress candidate in the 1996 Assembly elections, according to the
biography of the actor, "The Name is Rajinikanth," written by a
city-based ophthalmologist Dr Gayathri Sreekanth.
 Rajininkanth,
was at loggerheads with the then chief minister and AIADMK supremo
Jayalalithaa and had openly criticised her government. This had
triggered speculations about his entry into politics. He received a
phone call from Rao in 1995.
Thanking the actor for his support to the Congress,
the then Prime Minister indicated that his party would not be averse
to making him the chief minister of the state. The Congress was an
ally of the AIADMK then.
When Rajinikanth sought time to think it over, Rao
suggested a meeting between the two during his visit to Chennai. The
meeting eventually took place at Congress headquarters 'Satyamurthy
Bhavan', where the actor politely turned down the offer, the book
says..
Instead, Rajinikanth recommended senior Congress
leader G K Moopanar for the Chief Minister's chair.
"In the event of Congress forming a coalition
government, I humbly request you to please consider joining with
people who will do good for the state. I want Congress to be an ally
of the DMK. I think it's time we give the DMK a chance," the book
quoted him as saying.(Agencies and COLTeam)
|
