Did you know it was K Balachander who changed Shivaji Rao Gaekwad as Rajinikanth? Rest is the history Superstar Rajinikanth will be honoured with the 51st Dadasaheb Phalke Award for his extraordinary contribution to the Indian cinema. Written By Pinkvilla Desk 5000 reads Mumbai Published: April 1, 2021 12:13 pm Did you know it was K Balachander who changed Shivaji Rao Gaekwad as Rajinikanth? Rest is the history Superstar Rajinikanth was born as Shivaji Rao Gakewad in 1950. He was born in Bengaluru and was named after the Maratha Empire king Shivaji. He was brought up speaking Marathi at home and Kannada outside. Before getting into acting, Rajinikanth performed several jobs including that of a coolie. He also got a job in the Bangalore Transport Service (BTS) as a bus conductor. However, his life changed after he decided to take up an acting course. With the support of his friends and family, he decided to get into acting. He was later noticed by the Tamil film director K. Balachander. The director advised him to learn Tamil, which he quickly followed.