SuperStar Rajinikanth Birthday

Rajinikanth has been ruling the Tamil box-office for over two decades. In most of the 153 odd movies he has done in a career spanning 33 years, Rajinikanth has reached out to the mass audiences with his electrifying screen presence mixed with heroism, peppy songs and famous punchlines.

Today, he turns 58, and he will be in Hyderabad at the Ramoji Rao studio shooting for daughter Soundarya Rajinikanth’s animation film Sultan — The Warrior. This year, he has urged his fans not to celebrate his birthday as he has been pained by what is happening to the Tamils in Sri Lanka. Added to that, the Mumbai massacre has also shell-shocked the nation and the film industry.

On the career front, this year will go down as one of the worst years for the star as Kuselan, in which he did a cameo role, took a drubbing at the box-office. Then, he had to clarify on a Kannada television channel for his remarks on the Hogenekkal issue, which also created problems for the actor. But he has bounced back from every setback and remains the undisputed Baasha at the box-office.

Meanwhile, work is progressing on his prestigious magnum opus Enthiren, directed by Shankar. The shooting of the film is taking place in different locations in and around Chennai. Two songs have been shot and nearly 30 percent of the talkie portion has been completed. The producers are trying their best to release it for Diwali 2009.

Rajinikanth, it seems, has passed the test of a true superstar as people who know nothing about Tamil cinema still recognise him as an icon!