Rajinikanth Height, Weight, Age, Wife, Family, Biography & More

Bio
Real Name	Shivaji Rao Gaekwad
Nickname	Rajinikanth, Thalaiva, Superstar
Profession	Actor, Producer, Screenplay Writer, Philanthropist
Physical Stats & More
Height (approx.)	in centimeters- 173 cm in meters- 1.73 m in Feet Inches- 5’ 8”
Weight (approx.)	in Kilograms- 73 kg in Pounds- 161 lbs
Body Measurements	- Chest: 40 Inches - Waist: 33 Inches - Biceps: 12 Inches
Eye Colour	Dark Brown
Hair Colour	Salt & Pepper (Semi-bald)
Personal Life
Date of Birth	12 December 1950
Age (as in 2016)	66 Years
Birth Place	Bengaluru, Mysore State (now Karnataka), India
Zodiac sign/Sun sign	Sagittarius
Signature
Nationality	Indian
Hometown	Bengaluru, Mysore State (now Karnataka), India
School	Government Model Primary School, Gavipuram, Bengaluru
College	M.G.R Film and Television Institute of Tamil Nadu
Educational Qualification	Course in Acting
Debut	Film: Apoorva Raagangal (1975, Tamil) Katha Sangama (1976, Kannada) Anthuleni Katha (1976, Telugu) Andha Kanoon (1983, Bollywood)
Family	Father- Ramoji Rao Gaekwad (Worked as a police constable) Mother- Jijabai (Homemaker) Brothers- Satyanarayana Rao (Elder), Nageshwara Rao (Elder) Sister- Aswath Balubhai (Elder)
Religion	Hinduism
Address	A bungalow in Poes Garden, Chennai
Hobbies	Travelling, reading, gardening
Controversies	• In 2014, Rajinikanth got the stay from the Madras High Court to stop the release of Bollywood film 'Main Hoon Rajinikanth.' Later, the name of the film was changed to 'Main Hoon Part-Time Killer.' • In 2015, the Madras High Court issued a notice to Rajinikanth, on a plea by a financier to take action against the director, Kasthuri Raja, father of the Dhanush. The financier also claimed that he gave money to Kasthuri Raja after he had used Rajinikanth's name. He wanted Rajinikanth to 'initiate action against his relative for misusing his name without his consent.' • In 2017, Lyca Productions announced that Rajinikanth will unveil a housing scheme by its charity wing 'Gnanam Foundation' for displaced Tamils in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. After this announcement, the pro-Tamil protested against Rajinikanth's visit.
Favourite Things
Favourite Food	Masala Dosa
Favourite Actor	Amitabh Bachchan, Kamal Haasan, Sylvester Stallone
Favourite Actress	Rekha, Hema Malini
Favourite Film	Veera Kesari (Kannada)
Favourite Musician	Ilayaraja
Favourite Colour	Black
Favourite Books	Ponniyin Selvan by Kalki, Amma Vanthal by T. Janakiraman
Favourite Politician	Lee Kuan Yew (Former Prime Minister of Singapore)
Favourite Sport	Cricket
Favourite Destination	The Himalayas
Girls, Affairs and More
Marital Status	Married
Affairs/Girlfriends	Silk Smitha (Actress) Latha (Producer, Singer)
Wife/Spouse	Latha (Producer, Singer, m.1981-present)
Marriage Date	26 February 1981
Children	Son- N/A Daughter- Aishwarya (born in 1982), Soundarya (born in 1984)
Style Quotient
Cars Collection	Premier Padmini Fiat, Chevrolet Tavera, Toyota Innova, Ambassador, Honda Civic
Bikes Collection	Suzuki Hayabusa, Suzuki Intruder M1800 RZ
Money Factor
Salary	40-45 crore/film (INR)
Net Worth	$55 million

Some Lesser Known Facts About Rajinikanth

• Does Rajinikanth smoke?: No (Earlier he used to smoke)

• Does Rajinikanth drink alcohol?: Yes

• Rajnikanth is a Maharashtrian by birth and not a Tamilian, though his ancestors hailed from both Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.

• He lost his mother at a young age after which he was raised by his father and his elder brothers. 

• He was a very naughty and spoiled brat in his childhood.

• Before becoming an actor he did odd jobs in Chennai and Bengaluru such as a carpenter, a coolie, and a bus conductor for the Bangalore Transport Service (BTS). As a bus conductor, he used to get INR 750.

• His friend, Raj Bahadur, used to give him funds to learn acting in a film institution in Chennai. 

• As he was keen on acting, he joined the Madras Film Institute, and during one of his stage performance, he met the director, K Balachander, who offered him a role in his Tamil film. Until that time, he was not good at speaking Tamil, but he quickly learned it and master the language. 

• He made his acting debut alongside Kamal Haasan in Tamil film ‘Apoorva Raagangal’ (1975). 

• For the initial two years of his acting career, he got recognised for his negative roles, until he got the lead role in the Telugu film ‘Chilakamma Cheppindi’ (1977).

• His first commercial success was ‘Billa’ (1980), a remake of Amitabh Bachchan’s ‘Don’ (1978). 

• He met his wife, Latha when a group of college girls came to take his interview, where Latha was leading the group. Rajinikanth got so much attracted to Latha that he proposed her on the same day.

• In his 100th film, he played the role of a Hindu saint ‘Raghavendra Swami’ in the film ‘Sri Raghavendra’ (1985). 

• In 1988, he did his first and only English film ‘Bloodstone’, an Indian-American action-adventure film. 

• His film ‘Raaja Chinna Roja’ (1989), was the first Tamil film to use animation. 

• His only film that was released with an U/A certificate was ‘Thalapathi’ (1991).

• He was honoured with Padma Bhushan (2000), and Padma Vibhushan (2016) by the Government of India.

• In 2002, he did a day-long fast to protest the Karnataka Government’s decision not to release water from the river Kaveri into Tamil Nadu. Also in 2008, he participated in a day-long fast with other Tamil film personalities, demanding that the Sri Lankan government must end to civil war and give Sri Lankan Tamils their rights. 

• In 2007, he became the highest paid Asian actor after Jackie Chan, when he was paid INR 26 crore for the film ‘Sivaji.’

• His science fiction film ‘Enthiran’ (English – Robot) was supposed to be done by Kamal Haasan. 

• He was named as the most influential Indian of 2010, by Forbes India.

• He made a special appearance in Shah Rukh Khan‘s Sci-Fi film, ‘Ra.One’ (2011).

• In 2011, he supported social activist Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption movement and offered the use of his marriage hall, Raghavendra Kalyana Mandapam in Chennai.

• Since 1995, he goes to the Himalayas after every film. 

• He doesn’t meet people after 9 pm.

• He is very punctual and reaches all his shootings before time.

• He is known for his humble nature, simplicity, and down to earth personality. 

• He has a God-like stature in South India. 

• Meena is the only actress who has worked with him as a child actor and as his heroine. 

• His fans celebrate his birthday (12 December) as ‘World Style Day’ or ‘International Style Day.’

• His spiritual guru was, Swami Satchidananda, founder of Integral Yoga. 

• He has acted alongside Sripriya in more that 27 movies, the most with any actress. 

• He paid the losses of his distributors when his films ‘Baba’ (2002), and ‘Kuselan’ (2008), failed at the box office.

• He is the owner of Raghavendra Mandapam marriage hall in Chennai. 

• His much famous style of tossing cigarette came from an incidence when he wanted to join a gang in his school, as they were his seniors so they refused, after which he thought he would impress the guys with this trick. He used to practice this trick in bushes of the school.