Rajinikanth completes 46 years in Indian cinema today; fans celebrate his movies, style, awards, and dialogues!

Rajinikanth's marked his debut in films with Kamal Haasan's ‘Apoorva Ragangal’ in 1975 and went on to become one of the biggest superstars of Indian cinema. The actor has delivered many blockbuster hits in Indian cinema in various languages, especially Tamil cinema!

His massive fan following and popularity has been attributed to his uniquely ‘styled dialogues’ and ‘idiosyncrasies’ in his films, as well as his ‘political statements’ and ‘philanthropy’ outside the films.

The actor was honoured with Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, in 2000. He also received 'Padma Vibhushan, the second-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, in 2016. At the 67th National Film Awards, he was awarded the ‘Dadasaheb Phalke Award’ for his contribution to the cinema over the years. Today marks the 46th anniversary of Rajinikanth in films and on this occasion, take a look at his 7 award-winning performances of Rajinikanth.

The 1978 Indian Tamil-language drama film was written and directed by Mahendran. The film starred Rajinikanth along with Sarath Babu, Jayalaxmi and Shoba. It marked Mahendran's directorial debut with a novel story. 'Mullum Malarum' became a breakthrough for Rajinikanth as an actor and also a milestone of Tamil cinema for focusing prominently on realism without the formulaic Tamil cinema conventions. He continued following this style in all his later films.

The 1985 Hindu Mythological film, directed by SP Muthuraman is based on the life of Hindu saint Raghavendra Swami. Rajinikanth's performance as a saint was widely praised, however, the film didn't do well commercially. It is still considered as one of the most versatile sides of Rajinikanth.

The 1999 Tamil drama, written and directed by KS Ravikumar, featuring legendary Sivaji Ganesan, Rajinikanth, and several other prominent actors was released on Tamil New Year’s Day. It was not just a blockbuster hit but also received critical acclaim. The Rajini style, dialogues & performance was lauded by one and all!

'Baashha' is a 1995 Tamil film written and directed by Suresh Krissna, that revolves around the humble auto driver who stays away from violence but is forced to show his violent side after his sister is attacked.

The film was released two days before Pongal. It was also dubbed in Telugu in which Rajinikanth had taken a majestic form through his acting, dialogue and action sequences, which made him a god to his fans.

'Thalapathi' is a 1991 Tamil language crime drama film written and directed by Mani Ratnam starring Rajinikanth, Mammootty & Arvind Swami (debut). The film was based on the theme of friendship between Karna and Duryodhana characters from Mahabharata. Rajinikanth received appreciation for his performance from the masses as well as the critics.

The 1995 Telugu language drama directed by Raviraja Pinisetty starring Mohan Babu in a dual role and Rajinikanth was a huge hit. This movie remained in the hearts of Rajinikanth's Telugu fans forever for his style and dialogues.

The action film directed by S.Shankar starring Rajinikanth and Shriya Saran in the lead roles was well received both by the critics and as well as the fans. This film has dual roles played by Rajinikanth where he especially impresses in the rebirth role ‘Sivaji’ with this mannerisms & dialogues. The film brought Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Rajinikanth for his performance in the film.