SEE PICS! Birthday Special: Check out unknown facts about Rajinikanth

Veteran actor Rajinikanth, known as the 'God' of the South, does not need a new introduction. Rajinikanth, who has dominated the hearts of fans for more than four decades.

There are queues for morning tickets outside the cinema. The city has huge hoardings. Fans do everything from erecting the hoardings of him and bathing it with milk.

The real name of Rajinikanth is not Thalaiva or any other name but it is Shivaji Rao Gaekwad. He was brought up speaking Marathi and Kannada.

For his blockbuster movie Shivaji, Rajinikanth received an acting fee of Rs 26 crore in 2007. This made him the second highest-paid actor in Asia after Jackie Chan.

Rajinikanth was born on December 12, 1950 to a Marathi family in Bangalore. His full name is Shivajirao Gaikwad. His mother was a housewife and his father Ramojirao Gaikwad was a police constable.

Rajinikanth was named Shivaji by his father after Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. He used to speak Marathi at home and Kannada outside.

Prior to his film career, Rajinikanth worked as a bus conductor in the Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation.

Rajinikanth's childhood was very tough. His mother died when he was five years old. After the death of his mother, the entire responsibility of the family fell on the shoulders of Rajinikanth.

Rajinikanth made his film debut in the Tamil film 'Apoorva Ragangal'. In which he was accompanied by Kamal Hassan and Srividya in important roles.

After making his debut in Cineworld, he played many villainous roles and finally Rajinikanth became a hero. He got the lead role in SP Muthuraman's 'Bhuvan Oru Kelvikuri'.

Rajinikanth had an interesting love story as he met the love of his life Latha Rangachari when she came to interview him for her college magazine. They got married in 1981. Latha runs a Chennai-based school called 'The Ashram' now and the couple has two daughters Aishwarya and Soundarya. Latha is 8 years younger than him.

Along with acting, Rajinikanth is popular among his fans for his quirky style. His special style of flipping cigarettes along with his signature walk is much famous.