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Rajnikanth's father's name is Ramojirao Gaekwad and his mother was Jijabai. He lost his mother at the age of five.
Rajnikanth did his schooling at the Acharya Paatshala in Bangalore and then at the Vivekananda Balak Sangh, a unit of the Ramakrishna Mission.
His brothers are Sathya Narayana Rao and Nageshwara Rao. Rajnikanth married Latha on February 26, 1981 at Tirupathi and they have two children, Aishwarya and Soundarya. Latha is currently the principal of a school named The Ashram. His daughter Aishwarya married actor Dhanush in 2005 and they have a six-month-old son, Yathra.
He worked as a bus conductor for the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation in Bangalore before he joined the Madras Film Institute.
In 1975, he made his debut in the Kannada film Katha Sangama.
In 2000, he received India's third highest honour, the Padma Bhushan, for his contribution to Indian cinema.
He is one of the few south Indian heroes who successfully crossed over to the north. Andha Kanoon, Giraftaar, Chaalbaaz, Gangwa and more speak for his success in Bollywood.
In 1990, his film Muthu was the first Tamil film to be dubbed into Japanese as Muthu: The Dancing Maharajah and became very popular in the country.
Between 1977 and 2005, Rajnikanth received awards from several organisations, like the Tamil Nadu State Government Award, Cinema Express, Filmfans Association, Filmfare and so on, for his onscreen performances and off-screen contributions in writing and producing.
He has also received other honours such as the Raj Kapoor Award (2007) from the Government of Maharastra, Padma Bhushan (2000) from Government of India, Kalaichelvam Award (1995) from the Nadigar Sangam, MGR Award (1989) and Kalaimamani Award (1984) from the Government of Tamil Nadu.
He is the Tamil megastar of the 80s and 90s. He was one of the highest earning actors at his peak. He has worked in Hindi, Telugu and Kannada and even an English film.
In 2000, he received India's third highest honour, the Padma Bhushan, for his contribution to Indian cinema.
In 2007, he was reportedly paid Rs 300 million for his blockbuster Sivaji: The Boss.