According to various reports and anecdotes narrated by senior artists from the Tamil film industry, legendary director K Balachander spotted a man called Sivaji Rao Gaekwad during a stage performance of his. At that time, he was a mere student of the film institute. 

Recognizing that the man has a style of his own, he decided to introduce him to Kollywood in his upcoming feature Apoorva Raagangal that had Kamal Haasan playing the lead. Though it was a small role, he made sure that it was notice-worthy! It has been 43 years since.

He christened him Rajinikanth, and from there on, there is no looking back. It has been an incredible journey from being a conductor to an actor to a star, then to become the one and only superstar!

He might have made his political plunge, but the place he has in the hearts of people is of high standards. After collaborating with almost all the legendary directors the industry has ever seen, Rajini is now landing films directed by young talents like Pa Ranjith and Karthik Subbaraj. 

With Shankar's 2.0 coming very soon and Karthik Subbaraj's next under production, 43 sure seems like a baby step in Rajinikanth's career!