Chennai, Dec 12: Tamil superstar Rajnikant quietly ringed in his 60th birthday today while at work, shooting for his upcoming film ”Enthiran”, even as his fans pressed him to join politics amid raucous celebrations here. The actor, busy with the multi-crore film directed by film maker Shankar, is out of town, said sources close to him.
Rajnikant”s fans have lined up a slew of activities to mark his birthday, also known as ”Manivizha” in Tamil, meaning completion of 60 years. Fans offered sweets to one another and posters of Rajnikant adorned the walls in Chennai and other cities in the state with followers organising special prayers in temples for the cinestar.
Several of the fans chose to re-start the debate on his possible entry into politics, a subject he has chosen to stay away from in the last few years. While some posters gave a call to him to take the plunge, others, especially in Chennai, even chose to create a “swearing-in ceremony” scene of their ”Thalaivar” (leader).
Born as Shivaji Rao Gaikwad, Rajnikant”s climb to stardom is no different than a movie screenplay. Rajnikant owes much of his rise to stardom to his mentor and ace director K Balachander who first featured him in his critically-acclaimed ”Apoorva Ragangal”, co-starring another Tamil icon, Kamalhassan.
From a bus conductor in Bangalore to being one of the biggest names in Indian cinema, Rajni, as his fans call him, has come a long way in his career spanning more than 30 years.
–PTI