Archive · 17 Aug 2026
Rajinikanth Completes 51 Years in Indian Cinema on Dharman Sets
A very famous Indian movie star named Rajinikanth just finished 51 years of making movies.
He started his movie career a long time ago, in 1975.
A filmmaker named K. Balachander found him at a film school called the Madras Film Institute.
He gave him a small part in a movie and also gave him the name Rajinikanth.
That first movie was called Apoorva Raagangal.
Rajinikanth celebrated this special career birthday on the set of his new movie, Dharman.
His fans were very happy and wrote lots of nice messages for him.
Dharman will be his 173rd movie.
After that, he will act in another movie called Jailer 2.
Rajinikanth completed 51 years in Indian cinema on August 15, celebrating the milestone on the sets of his film Dharman with its cast and crew.
His career began with a cameo role in K. Balachander's 1975 National Award-winning film Apoorva Raagangal, released on August 15.
Balachander spotted Shivaji Rao Gaekwad at the Madras Film Institute, cast him in the film, and renamed him Rajinikanth.
Dharman is Rajinikanth's 173rd film, directed by Ashwath Marimuthu and produced by Kamal Haasan and R. Mahendran.
Rajinikanth will next return as Muthuvel Pandian in Jailer 2.
- Who
- Superstar Rajinikanth, along with the cast and crew of his film Dharman and his fans.
- What
- Celebrated completing 51 years in Indian cinema, marking the anniversary of his debut in Apoorva Raagangal.
- When
- August 15, the same date his debut film Apoorva Raagangal was released in 1975.
- Where
- On the sets of his upcoming film Dharman; his career began at the Madras Film Institute.
- Why
- To mark the 51st anniversary of his debut in K. Balachander's Apoorva Raagangal, which launched his legendary career.
- Milestone
- 51 years in Indian cinema
- Debut film
- Apoorva Raagangal (1975), National Award-winning
- Original name
- Shivaji Rao Gaekwad
- Current film
- Dharman (173rd film)
- Director of Dharman
- Ashwath Marimuthu
- Producers of Dharman
- Kamal Haasan and R. Mahendran
- Production houses
- Raaj Kamal Films International and Turmeric Media
- Next film
- Jailer 2, returning as Muthuvel Pandian