Happy Birthday Rajni Sir

Mustard is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches. This philosophy suits best to Rajinikanth more than anyone. What was an Abaswaram in 1975 has grown to be a most beautiful, harmonious and melodious ragam in 2010.

Super Star Rajinikanth is no less than a phenomenon now. The era of Rajinikanth is one of the most determining years. What can you say of a man who was introduced in a minor role among stalwarts and later becomes a one man industry himself?

He is Rajinikanth, the true blue star who speaks only with successes. He transcends borders and captures hearts like no Indian actor ever could. His films are carnivals not just in the Americas but also across Australasia.

When Shivaji Rao Gaikwad became Rajinikanth except his mentor K. Balachander no one thought the terminally ill patient in 'Apoorva Raagangal' will one day become an enduring 'Endhiran'. If you look back the climb to super stardom was neither planned nor influenced. Rajinikanth became Super Star on merits and the glory just came searching for him.

If look at the initial years of Rajinikanth, he never worked aiming for super stardom. All he wanted was good roles that too negative roles that will make him clutter breaker. The man who understood the real Rajinikanth gave him some scintillating negative characters in films like Moondru Mudichu, Avargal and Antuleni Katha (Telugu) which set Rajini apart from the ordinary. In fact Rajini is the first ever villain in Tamil cinema who commanded applause. A cigarette or a sunglass, any property behaved differently when it was handled by the style king.

The style king was evolving as a star. For a new comer in 1975 who did 6 films in 1976 doing 15 films 1977 is nothing but paranormal. That means Rajini has been growing by over 300% every year. Films like Bhuvana Oru Kelvikkuri, 16 Vayathinile, Gayathri, Aayiram Janmangal and Mangudi Minor built on the fact that Rajinikanth is no ordinary star.

His meteoric rise got him the first solo hero role in 'Bairavi'. It was in this film Rajini was addressed as Super Star for the first time. Kalaipuli Thanu who was the distributor of 'Bairavi' advertised him as the Super Star. The title was realistic and it stayed.

By this time Rajini was able to dictate good films. Films like Ilamai Oonjaladukirathu, Mullum Malarum, Priya and Ninaithale Inikkum showed Rajini with style and substance. Thai Meethu Sathiyam made Rajini enter the camp of Devar Films which was constructed by MGR. When Dharmayutham happened Rajini took a conscious decision of reducing style and concentrate more on his action.

The style king became an actor with Aarilirunthu Arubathu Varai. Billa which came in January 1980 established Rajini as the box office king. Murattukalai which released in December 1980 redefined the rules of commercial cinema and set new trends for others. The in between release 'Netrikan' trumpeted Rajini is one of the finest wholesome actors of Tamil cinema. The emperor of Tamil cinema has taken his position.

After 80s Rajini became a one man industry. He was the first choice of the biggest production

Houses and was a dream of all. Although he did films for the iconic banners he never failed to prove his individuality. Thillu Mullu, Pokkiri Raja, Puthukavithai, Engeyo Ketta Kural, Moondru Mugam, Nallavanukku Nallavan, Thambikku Entha Ooru are all made by profit inclined studios but they also happened to be some of the best films of the Super Star.

Just like you can't hide the Sun with your palm, Bollywood could not stop Rajini storming the north. His entry into Bollywood with 'Andhaa Kaanoon' was a sensation. What ever Rajini did was new to them. Rajini has 23 Hindi films bearing his name. The highest for an actor from south India.

The 90s was a defining decade in the life of Rajini, both professionally and personally. If he was growing larger than life with block busters like Thalapathi, Mannan, Annamalai, Yejaman, Baasha, Muthu, Arunachalam and Padayappa on one side, Rajini was provoked by his detractors. His forgettable speech on 'bomb culture', his open statements of hatred for a leading political party, people and fans rousing him to enter politics all that happened in the nineties.

There were a lot of evil eyes cast on the incredibly growing powers of the Super Star. As fate would have it his 'Baba' film failed at the box office. When cynics wanted to write off, Rajini returned with more power than ever. 'Chandramuki' was his answer. The film after 'Baba' broke all known records and entered the record as the film which ran for the highest number of days in Tamil cinema history.

Then came Sivaji: The Boss that created a sensation all over India and the latest Endhiran created a sensation all over the world. In the Top 10 List of highest grossing Indian films ever, only two non-Hindi films feature and they are Sivaji and Endhiran.

After the hurricane 'Endhiran' that blew away the film buffs of the world there is only one thing every body is asking "Is there anything Rajini can't do?"

With the world under his feet what should the Super Star do hereafter? Now that he has reached the heights with 'Endhiran' which are just about impossible for any other actor to reach in the next few decades what will keep up the flame going?

Some may argue that he should continue his 'Baasha' style of wholesomely entertaining movies and some others would say the Super Star must do films that are bigger than 'Endhiran only. There are few others who say Rajini should switch to defining character roles in the lines of Amitabh Bachchan.

Rajini has reached a stage where all these points are compelling and convincing. If Rajini switches to character roles we will miss the emperor of entertainment. If he continues the regular action genre we will miss the great actor. May be we want Rajini to do a quickie with a strong story at regular interval to demonstrate his talent.

'Endhiran' had the best of both and it was one of the reasons for its colossal success. Rajini can do it. He can give us the best of all rolled in one. Otherwise Kamal Haasan would have told that the success of 'Endhiran' is not because of its content but because of Rajini.

The style king who became an actor on his way to be a Super Star is now a fairy tale. IndiaGlitz joins the millions (or billions) of Rajini fans around the plant to with him a Very Happy Birthday on December 12.

Japan wishes him 'Otanjoubi Omedetou Gozaimasu'. Malaysia wishes him Selamat Hari Jadi. Germany wishes him Hartelijk gefeliciteerd! South Africa wishes him Ilanga elimndandi kuwe! Norway wishes him Gratulerer med dagen! France wishes him Joyeux Anniversaire! China wishes him Sun Yat Fai Lok!

And we wish him "Thalaivaaa… Pallandu Vaazhga".